In the Community

December 16, 2011

Making an Impact — Kaiser Permanente Partners with Safety Net Leaders at 23rd Annual IHI Forum

Nearly 6,000 health care professionals from around the world, and thousands more via satellite broadcast, attended the Institute for Healthcare Improvement 23rd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care in Orlando, Fla. on Dec. 4–7. The conference is the premier meeting place for people committed to the mission of providing safe, effective patient care at a reasonable cost.

Kaiser Permanente’s strong partnerships with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and safety-net organizations help cultivate high-quality, evidence-based medical practices. Through clinical, financial and technical resources, Kaiser Permanente supports the nation’s safety net, which serves the uninsured, under-insured and other vulnerable populations. The organization’s ongoing involvement with IHI is just one example of how Kaiser Permanente demonstrates its commitment. As we move toward the challenges of implementing health care reform, the organization believes that the safety-net provider community plays a critical role in creating a just, equitable and patient-centered health care system.

At the recent forum, Kaiser Permanente representatives spoke with IHI President and CEO Maureen Bisognano, and Winston Wong, MD, medical director of Community Benefit, Disparities Improvement and Quality Initiatives for Kaiser Permanente. Of the several topics discussed at the forum, one was the importance of the nation’s safety-net organizations.

Additional video interviews include two physician recipients of the 2011 Kaiser Permanente-IHI Endowment Safety Net Scholarship:

• Virgilio Licona, MD, is associate medical director of Salud Family Health Centers in Colorado. He speaks about the value of bringing together so many people dedicated to improving the quality of care among patient populations and the impact he anticipates the meeting will have on his work in Colorado.
      Watch Dr. Licona’s interview on YouTube now >
  
  
• Margaret Chang, MD, is medical director of Community Clinic, Inc. in Rockville, Md., a clinic that cares for the under-served in Montgomery County. Dr. Chang discusses some of the challenges now facing safety-net providers as well key learnings she hoped to take away from the conference.
      Watch Dr. Chang’s interview on on YouTube now >