New Healthcare Book Aims to Save Lives

Roseville, CA, February 2, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​More than 35 healthcare professionals including industry-recognized gurus Donald Berwick, M.D., MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Dennis Wagner, MPA, Director of the Quality Improvement and Innovation Group for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, joined forces to write a powerful new book about healthcare collaboratives. All In: Using Healthcare Collaboratives to Save Lives and Improve Care, is now available at Amazon.

“In today’s challenging and rapidly evolving healthcare environment, many new, often complex regulations have been introduced to improve care and efficiency,” says co-editor Pat Teske, RN, MHA, Implementation Officer, Cynosure Health. “In addition to complying with these regulations, many healthcare organizations are taking matters into their own hands by launching collaborative efforts.”

"If you're working to improve healthcare, address patient safety, strengthen quality, streamline operations or enhance quality improvement, this book will benefit you."

Bruce Spurlock, M.D., Executive Director, Cynosure Health

Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the book captures an enormous wealth of experience by healthcare professionals who have designed and run healthcare collaboratives around the world.

“If you’re working to improve healthcare, address patient safety, strengthen quality, streamline operations or enhance quality improvement, this book will benefit you,” says co-editor Bruce Spurlock, M.D., Executive Director, Cynosure Health. “It includes insights from authors with deep, pragmatic experience sharing how to design, run and fund successful healthcare collaboratives. It covers a broad array of topics, starting with accelerating change at scale and ending with predictions on the future of collaboratives.”

All In: Using Healthcare Collaboratives to Save Lives and Improve Care covers the origin of the healthcare collaborative before delving into many successful collaborative efforts with various goals and in diverse settings. The authors share their best practices, what they learned and how they overcame challenges.

For example, in chapter 4 Wagner; Dan Buffington, Ph.D.; and Paul McGann, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for Quality Improvement, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, discuss the importance of leadership. In one example, they shared how one woman, Susan McVey Dillon, lost her son and was told there wasn’t a policy in place to accept her son’s organ donation after cardiac death. She told the hospital to “figure it out” and they did just that, saving the life of a young father. The nation’s entire organ donation system responded to Susan’s message and since then organ donations after cardiac arrests in the United States have more than doubled.

Practical topics explored in this collection include recruitment, budgeting, data and measurement, patient activation and leadership. The authors share how collaboration is an effective way to reduce the cycle time for improvement, with colleagues and, in some cases, even competitors.

“We strongly believe we can learn more from each other more rapidly than we can learn individually,” Teske says. “Our goal is to share large-scale learning collaborative knowledge so it can be used by other designers, implementers, funders and evaluators of collaborative efforts around the world.”

“A collaborative always starts with a common goal along with shared experience and learning from many participants,” Dr. Spurlock adds. “All In: Using Healthcare Collaboratives to Save Lives and Improve Care emulates that truism.”

About the Editors and Contributors

Please see the attached About the Authors for more information about the book’s editors and contributors.

About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s work in patient care focuses on improving the experience and outcomes of patients by meaningfully engaging patients and their families in the care they receive, and by redesigning the healthcare delivery system to operate more effectively and intelligently for their benefit.

 About the Authors

Ken Alexander, MS, RRT, VP, Louisiana Hospital Association (Chapter 7) Mr. Alexander is responsible for leading Louisiana Hospital Association’s quality and patient safety initiatives, assisting member hospitals statewide with issues relative to regulatory and hospital licensing standards and activities.

Gail Amundson, M.D., Healthcare Transformation Consultant (Chapter 11) Dr. Amundson is an advisor to The Alliance on QualityPath™ initiative for high-value orthopedic and cardiac care; and consultant to business, government and healthcare clients on healthcare policy, quality improvement and healthcare system redesign.

Pierre M. Barker, M.D., Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) (Chapter 2) Dr. Barker is the Senior Vice President responsible IHI’s large-scale health systems improvement initiatives outside the USA.

James B. Battles, Ph.D., Social Science Analyst, AHRQ/CQuiPS (Chapter 9) Dr. Battles leads AHRQ’s efforts in the assessment of patient safety culture, and improving teamwork (TeamSTEPPS®) in collaboration with the Department of Defense.

Donald M. Berwick, M.D., President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Chapter 2) Dr. Berwick has published more than 110 scientific articles in numerous professional journals on subjects relating to healthcare policy, decision analysis, technology assessment and healthcare quality management.

Bruce Block, M.D., Chief Medical Informatics Officer and Chief Learning Officer, Jewish Healthcare Foundation (Chapter 10) Dr. Block supports healthcare innovations designed to effectively use evidence, improve processes and influence behavior.

Jane Brock, M.D., MSPH, Medical Director, Telligen (Chapter 6) Dr. Brock currently serves as the clinical director of the Quality Innovation Network (QIN)-Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) National Coordinating Center (NCC), funded by CMS.

Daniel Buffington, Pharm.D., MBA, Clinical Pharmacology Services, Inc. (Chapter 4) Dr. Buffington has served as a leader in interdisciplinary efforts to improve practice models, clinical documentation and electronic health records systems to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of collaborative medication management.

Jason Byrd, J.D., Director of Patient Safety and Director of the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN), Carolinas HealthCare System (Chapters 1, 11) Mr. Byrd’s prior work includes developing and leading the D2B (Door-to-Balloon): An Alliance for Quality campaign, which focused on reducing D2B times for STEMI patients through implementation of evidence-based strategies in 1,100 hospitals worldwide.

Jim Chase, President, MN Community Measurement (Chapter 11) Mr. Chase has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare management; he’s a nationally recognized expert on performance measurement and healthcare transparency.

John B. Chessare M.D., MPH (Chapter 10) Dr. Chessare has been actively involved in designing and managing systems of care in academic medical centers and in community hospitals.

Jim Conway, MS, LFACHE, Adjunct Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Chapter 12) Mr. Conway’s areas of expertise and interest include governance and executive leadership, patient safety, change management, crisis management and patient-/family-centered care.

Andrew Cooper, Interim Director of Communications, Public Health Wales (Chapter 13) Mr. Cooper has more than 20 years of communications experience, working across the public, private and third sectors. He served as the head of communications for the 1000 Lives Improvement service in NHS Wales, developing the role of communications in the field of quality improvement.

Mary Cooper, M.D., J.D., Chief Quality Officer and VP, Quality and Safety, Connecticut Hospital Association (Chapter 7) Dr. Cooper oversees the implementation of High Reliability Science Connecticut hospitals, CHA’s Partnership for Patients (with AHA/HRET), hospital value creation with their quality and safety strategy, and working closely with the state government and quality organizations.

Susan Elster, Ph.D., Research Director, JHF and PRHI (Chapter 14) Dr. Elster is a consultant to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and its supporting organizations; she has expertise in project development and research design, with an emphasis on survey and focus group methodology and strategic planning.

Jo Ann Endo, MSW, Content Development Manager, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Chapter 13) Ms. Endo specializes in creating original content for the IHI website, including writing blog posts and conducting video interviews.

Karen Wolk Feinstein, Ph.D., President and CEO, Jewish Healthcare Foundation and Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (Chapters 10, 12, 14) Dr. Feinstein is regarded as a national leader in healthcare quality improvement and frequently presents at national and international conferences.

Brianna Gass, MPH, Lead Program Evaluator, Telligen (Chapter 6) Ms. Gass is experienced in program evaluation, facilitates evaluation activities of Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), and conducts evaluation of other national and community-based healthcare quality improvement efforts.

Stephen Hines, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer, Health Research and Educational Trust (Chapter 9) Dr. Hines helps to lead and plan large-scale improvement initiatives and oversees HRET analytic work that examines why some participants in these projects make great progress while others do not.

Alison L. Hong, M.D., Director, Quality and Patient Safety, Connecticut Hospital Association (Chapter 7) Dr. Hong has been the project lead on numerous collaboratives at the state and national level, including On the CUSP: Stop BSI and the Partnership for Patients.

Libby Hoy, Founder/CEO, PFCCpartners (Chapter 12) Libby Hoy has 20+ years of raising three boys with Mitochondrial disease as well as years of experience in bringing together all healthcare stakeholders in partnership to create sustainable improvement in healthcare.

Andrea Kabcenell, RN, MPH, VP, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Chapter 9) Ms. Kabcenell serves as a lead on the IHI’s Innovation Team, driving and developing projects from innovative ideas to practice implementation; her role also assures that new knowledge is used in IHI and other programs.

Jenny Kowalczuk, writer/researcher, www.jennykowalczuk.co.uk, Hyderus (Chapter 13) Ms. Kowalczuk is a writer and researcher specializing in public and global health; she has an MA in human science and works independently with NGOs, government and commercial clients.

Elizabeth (Betsy) A. Lee, MSPH, BSN, RN, President, BL Enterprises, LLC, Patient Safety/Quality Improvement Consultant (Chapter 7) Ms. Lee is a consultant to New Hope of Indiana and to Indiana University School of Nursing for interprofessional collaborative practice; her prior role included providing leadership, education and strategic direction for the Indiana Patient Safety Center (IPSC).

Deneil LoGiudice, Consultant, Continuous Improvement (Chapter 11) Ms. LoGiudice is a quality improvement consultant currently working with multiple nonprofit organizations; she has a background in quality engineering and holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification from American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Virginia A. McBride, RN, MPH, Organ Transplantation Regulatory and Performance Improvement Consultant (Chapter 13) Ms. McBride provides transplantation performance improvement, regulatory compliance and interim staffing services, such as interim transplant administrator to transplant hospitals.

Joe McCannon, Co-founder and Principal, The Billions Institute (Chapter 1) Mr. McCannon leads international nonprofits that serve movements, foundations and organizations—across social sectors—to expand impact to massive scale.

Paul McGann, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for Quality Improvement, Co-Director, Partnership for Patients Co-Director, Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Chapter 4) Dr. McGann’s first projects at CMS were to lead the introduction of quality improvement work in nursing homes and home health agencies into the Quality Improvement Organization contracts (published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in September 2006).

Kevin O’Connor, President and CEO, LifeCenter Northwest (Chapter 7) Mr. O’Connor has served as President and CEO of LifeCenter Northwest (LCNW), the OPO serving Washington, Montana, Alaska and Northern Idaho. Under his leadership organ donation at LCNW has increased by 65 percent, and tissue donation has more than quadrupled.

Christopher Queram, MA, President/CEO, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) (Chapter 7) Mr. Queram has been the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality—a voluntary consortium of organizations working to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare in Wisconsin.

Lucy A. Savitz, Ph.D., MBA, Assistant VP, Delivery System Science, Institute for Healthcare Leadership, Intermountain Healthcare; Research Professor, Epidemiology, University of Utah; Discovery & Dissemination Board Committee Chair, High Value Healthcare Collaborative (Chapter 5) Dr. Savitz leads the Intermountain-based ACTION III network, directs the CMMI Innovation Challenge award, and serves on the Board representing Discovery and Dissemination for the High Value Health Care Collaborative.

John Scanlon, Ph.D., Partner, Financial Transformations, Inc. (Chapter 4) Dr. Scanlon designs leadership campaigns that enable executive teams to take their organizations through strategic transformation.

Marybeth Sharpe, Ph.D., Program Director, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Chapter 9) Dr. Sharpe directs the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s regional healthcare improvement initiatives, including a 10+ years effort to improve hospital patient safety and care transitions in Northern California; in this role, she collaborates with local partners and national stakeholders to advance the role of frontline RNs in measurably improving patient care outcomes.

Michael P. Silver, MPH, SVP, Improvement Science and Consulting Services, HealthInsight (Chapter 6) Mr. Silver has been engaged in the design, conduct, and analysis of healthcare quality improvement and patient safety initiatives for more than 20 years; he provides technical assistance to healthcare innovations projects in all settings, with a broad range of targets, across the country.

 Bruce W. Spurlock, M.D., Executive Director, Cynosure Health (Chapter 14) Dr. Spurlock is the co-editor for the book as well as the executive director of Cynosure Health; his primary responsibility is to direct and facilitate large, multi-participant healthcare quality collaboratives designed to accelerate the dissemination of evidence-based clinical practices.

Diane Stewart, MBA, Senior Director, Pacific Business Group on Health (Chapter 5) Ms. Stewart was a founding member, and now Board member, for the Network for Regional Health Improvement, a national organization of multi-stakeholder regional health initiatives to promote transparency and system improvement across local healthcare systems.

Sarah M. Stout, MPAff, Managing Consultant, The Lewin Group (Chapter 8) Ms. Stout brings more than 10 years’ experience in project management, collaborative design and implementation, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and qualitative and quantitative research.

Patricia A. Teske, RN, MHA, Implementation Officer, Cynosure Health (Introduction, Chapter 3) Ms. Teske is the co-editor for the book and is working to implement Cynosure’s vision through strategic planning and execution of projects on time and within budget that yield success.

Jeff Thompson, M.D., Executive Advisor and Chief Executive Officer Emeritus, Gunderson Health System (Chapter 3) Dr. Thompson has served on Gundersen’s boards beginning in 1992 and played a key role in the organization’s negotiations and governance design.

Dennis Wagner, MPA, Director, Quality Improvement and Innovation Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Chapter 4) Mr. Wagner is a national and international leader in the fields of healthcare quality improvement, the environment and social marketing; he’s a thoughtful and strategic person who believes in committing to and delivering on bold aims in work and life.

Sam R. Watson, MSA, CPPS, Senior VP Patient Safety and Quality, Michigan Health & Hospital Association (Chapter 5) Mr. Watson oversaw the national launch of the core measures clinical data collection system; led the inauguration of statewide quality initiatives, and achieved the Eisenberg Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality Award and the Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award for healthcare improvement.

Alan Willson, Ph.D., Improvement Consultant, Aneurin Bevan Health Board, South Wales (Chapter 13) Dr. Willson is a senior research officer in the Improvement Science Research Group at the College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University.

Nancy D. Zionts, MBA, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Program Officer, Jewish Healthcare Foundation (Chapter 12) Ms. Zionts is responsible for the grant agenda for the Foundation and its operating arms, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative and Health Careers Futures as the COO/Chief Program Officer for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.