Dr. Ira Williams Invited To IHI 25th National Forum On Quality Improvement In Health Care
Greenville, SC (PRWEB) December 19, 2013 -- Dr. Donald Berwick, and others, created the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in 1988, and in 1990 the first estimate of needless hospital deaths annually of 98,000 was made public to great cries of doubt, challenge, and contradiction, all based upon no counter evidence. The most current estimate of 400,000 annually by John James, PhD (http://is.gd/GzKOg3) has been strongly supported publicly by experts in that field.
Williams joined over 5,000 attendees, including a thousand representing 50 countries, in daily events presented by over 300 healthcare experts offering positive contributions to improving the quality of healthcare and patient safety. However, the absence of significant improvement in patient safety demonstrated by the continuing increase of every estimate of needless hospital deaths during the entire tenure of IHI existence appeared to be a reality seemingly ignored.
Their 16th Annual CEO and Leadership Summit on Tuesday, December 10 for example included presentations by healthcare leaders from Mayo Clinic, The Cleveland Clinic, Scottish Government Health Department, and others.
An analogy is useful to depict the quality of health care progress created during the past 25 years. A satellite picture of the Korean Peninsula taken at night (http://is.gd/FDsxu9) reveals the stark difference between the North and South portions of Korea. In a similar manner, IHI, and other quality of health care entities, can demonstrate numerous hospitals and medical centers throughout the nation, and in other countries, that have made great strides in patient care improvements. Unfortunately, a similar picture of the entire current health care system would illustrate that only a very small percent of the over 5,000 hospitals would appear as lights.
None of the presentations during those four days focused on such all-too-real medical events as offered by Medscape Dec. 12, 2013, Rogue-Surgeon Case Raises Question of Who Knew What (http://is.gd/1S71r3). Such events would not take place at a hospital that would appear lighted on an IHI picture of the entire healthcare system. Williams discusses in Find The Black Box (http://is.gd/UK4Uk0) how a failure to recognize each state’s responsibility to create and maintain a functional healthcare delivery system continues to plague all efforts to improve the quality of healthcare and patient safety throughout the entire system, and not just in a relatively small number of fortunate hospitals and medical centers.
Williams points out that considering how little real progress has been made throughout the entire healthcare system in the past quarter century, the public will be forced to wait for the ever-increasing estimate of needless hospital deaths to begin to move in a far more positive direction throughout the entire healthcare system?
Ira Williams, Dr. Ira Williams, +1 8646761420, [email protected]
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