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October 16, 2013
The IHI Open School is an innovative learning community where you can take free online courses, earn certificates, network with peers and experts, and gain confidence and skills in quality improvement and patient safety to change health care.
The Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), which includes three hospitals, community health centers, and more than 1,100 physicians in Pennsylvania, started on its journey with the IHI Open School courses in May of 2012.
“We needed some additional education in quality improvement and patient safety,” says Jennifer Stephens, DO, Vice Chair of Quality, Department of Medicine at LVHN. “We started to look at the modules and they were exactly the level of education we needed.”
On September 17, the IHI Open School teamed up with Our Time Projects to host 90+ screenings of the award-winning documentary ESCAPE FIRE: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare on college campuses nationwide. After the screenings, many sites held panel discussions featuring prominent faculty and leaders from the local community. In addition to discussing central themes in ESCAPE FIRE, participants considered a common question we ask at IHI to make sure we’re working towards our goals, “What can you do by next Tuesday?” Several organizers reported that attendees were particularly interested in community-oriented action and pledged to pass on information about the film and the IHI Open School to fellow students.
Thank you to Our Time Projects and all the schools, students, faculty, and professionals who took part in making the second university screening tour of ESCAPE FIRE such a huge success.
In the midst of congratulating herself for providing excellent patient-centered care, Danielle Ofri, associate professor at New York University School of Medicine, realizes two things: 1. She and her patient have reached the same “shared decision” at every well visit for years in a row, to no effect, and 2. By continuing to schedule those yearly visits, she is actively ignoring her specialty group’s Choosing Wisely campaign goals, which recommend against routine general health checks for asymptomatic adults.
“The problem is, most of us are just like our patients — we often ignore good advice when it conflicts with what we’ve always done,” writes Ofri in The New York Times Sunday Review. To hear more about Ofri’s epiphany and how newfound self-awareness led to a better sense of empathy for her patients, check out the full article here.
Last week, Midwest Regional Leaders Ryan Miller and Sarah Miano led a conference call to check in with the Chapters in their region, highlight the work Chapters are doing, and set goals for the 2013-2014 academic year. Listen to the recording of the call to hear from Chapters at Case Western Reserve University, University of South Dakota, Wright State University, University of Wisconsin, and more, and find out what the Midwest Region has planned for this year.
If you’re reading this, you probably agree that newsletters can be an effective way of sharing information among a group of people who share a common interest. However, you may not be aware that many Chapters are using this form of communication to regularly speak to their members. For example, the Simon Fraser University Chapter recently released its first newsletter, in which Chapter leaders shared updates from their first meeting, upcoming events, and opportunities such as contests and scholarships.
Does your Chapter send a regular newsletter? If so, let us know and add openschool@ihi.org to your contact list. We’d love to receive it! If not, consider creating using one to get your members more engaged.
Primary Care Progress (PCP) — a national non-profit network of clinicians, health professional trainees, advocates, and educators united by a new vision for revitalizing primary care — is launching a national campaign, The Primary Care Project, designed to revitalize primary care education at all institutions that train future health professionals. Through an unprecedented student-led grassroots movement, the campaign hopes to draw attention to the urgent need to increase primary care–oriented recruitment, mentoring, and education opportunities at these institutions. Learn more about the campaign and take the pledge to support the revitalization of primary care education and training today.
