Inside SHM Quality Summit
In October, SHM embarked on the exciting endeavor of gathering leaders in education, research, standards, and clinical practice to begin developing ideas for furthering quality improvement initiatives in hospital medicine.
At the one-day Quality Summit in Chicago, participants were asked to consider and discuss their “big-picture” vision for improving quality care in hospitals. The meeting was led by Janet Nagamine, MD, chair of SHM’s Hospital Quality Patient Safety (HQPS) Committee, and Larry Wellikson, MD, the CEO of SHM.
As Dr. Nagamine opened the meeting, she expressed both the great excitement and angst that comes with undertaking such a huge initiative as creating a quality road map for SHM. Explaining that the day was to be devoted to determining vision, Dr. Wellikson further clarified that the goal of the summit was to set priorities and create strategies for moving forward.
Russell Holman, MD, SHM’s president, expressed appreciation for the wealth of experience and background of the attendees and encouraged participants to think as visionaries. Dr. Holman remarked on SHM’s devotion to a higher calling centered on looking at patient care as being inclusive and collaborative. The group was urged to put forth their best thinking to advance the quality and safety agenda.
Pre-work for the summit focused on bringing attendees up to speed with all SHM’s initiatives related to quality improvement. To understand the scope and breadth of work undertaken by SHM, each participant was asked to thoroughly examine the most updated Resource Rooms (Web-based, interactive learning tools) and to look at a comprehensive list of organizations with whom SHM is involved. Armed with a complete picture of what SHM has done, the group was expected to think about plans for progress.
Participants worked in large and small groups to generate themes to pursue in quality endeavors.
The group agreed on the benefit of expanding SHM’s resources in education and implementation.
A generally supported theme was that training in quality improvement should be offered in medical schools and residency and fellowship programs. Additionally, those who have experience with quality improvement can benefit from additional support with implementing projects. Discussions focused on SHM’s success with educational opportunities by creating multidisciplinary teams and focusing on putting principles into practice (e.g., the Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Collaborative).
Additionally, small groups identified the potential for SHM to further the national hospital quality and patient-safety agenda by expanding research efforts into national networks. SHM’s relationships with national organizations and leaders in the quality arena were a focal point of discussion. One small group was devoted entirely to developing an innovative care collaborative comprising national leaders in nursing, pharmacy, quality, and patient care.
One noteworthy conclusion attendees could draw at the end of the summit was that SHM functions with great excitement and initiative. From leadership to members, volunteers, and staff, SHM is not an organization that rests on accomplishments but one that uses progress as a launch pad for continued improvement.
The people making decisions about quality endeavors to pursue have front-line experience and are in touch with what will improve patient care.
It was evident that while no one person or organization has all the answers, SHM is willing to do what it takes in terms of trying new things and forging new relationships.
