Press Releases: National
December 13 2004
Kaiser Permanente funds new Institute for Healthcare Improvement scholarship programs through $8 million endowment
OAKLAND, Calif. – In support of its ongoing commitment to health care improvement, Kaiser Permanente has announced that it will provide an $8 million endowment to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world.
Through the endowment, Kaiser Permanente will fund new scholarship programs to allow health care professionals to participate in IHI health care improvement programs including conferences, training courses and collaborative learning sessions. IHI programs focus on issues such as clinical outcomes, patient safety, patient satisfaction, office and hospital redesign, health disparities, and health care access.
"Kaiser Permanente has a long-standing relationship with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. We are very pleased to be in a position to support their work through these scholarships for both Kaiser Permanente and the health care communities that serve our members," said Louise Liang, MD, Kaiser Permanente Senior Vice President of Quality and Clinical Systems Support. "We believe in the work taking place at IHI and share their commitment to advance the quality and value of health care."
"We are enormously grateful to Kaiser Permanente for this generous endowment, which will ensure that IHI's improvement initiatives are spread even more broadly," said Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement. "Kaiser Permanente has been a close and valued partner of IHI for many years, and this gift is a wonderful way to support IHI's long-term goals, while also increasing immediately the number of health care professionals engaged in improvement efforts."
Approximately half of the scholarships funded by the endowment will be made available for IHI and Kaiser Permanente to distribute to non-Kaiser Permanente teams. The remaining half of the scholarships will be given to teams from Kaiser Permanente to support health care improvement efforts to benefit the organization's over 8 million members. Distributions from the $8 million endowment, including appreciation, will be used on an annual basis to continually fund the scholarship program.
Kaiser Permanente's $8 million endowment is part of a $10 million agreement that includes $2 million to fund IHI activities within Kaiser Permanente over the next 2-3 years. These activities may include leadership-level planning sessions, work with dedicated IHI faculty regarding patient safety, idealized design and work flow, leveraging information technology for improvement, and transfer of knowledge and improvement between organizations.
"This endowment reflects Kaiser Permanente's continued commitment to quality improvement in our offices and hospitals as well as in the broader communities we serve," said Jay Crosson, MD, executive director of The Permanente Federation, LLC.
About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. Founded in 1991 and based in Boston, MA, IHI is a catalyst for change, cultivating innovative concepts for improving patient care and implementing programs for putting those ideas into action. Thousands of health care providers, including many of the finest hospitals in the world, participate in IHI's groundbreaking work.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.
