Press Releases: National
January 5, 2009
Kaiser Permanente Provides Seed Funding to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's New Open School for Health Professions
OAKLAND, Calif. – Kaiser Permanente announced today that it will provide funding of $750,000, to be distributed over three years, to sponsor the IHI Open School for Health Professions, an initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Funding for the new IHI Open School demonstrates Kaiser Permanente's shared commitment with IHI to assure safe, quality and effective health care.
"I am proud of the fact that over the years, Kaiser Permanente has contributed to quality improvement and safety training for hundreds of physicians and clinical support staff. With this partnership, we now have the opportunity to teach these skills to students from the beginning of their professional careers," said Ray Baxter, senior vice president, Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy, Kaiser Permanente.
"Kaiser Permanente has in so many ways set the standard for quality across the entire health care spectrum," said Don Berwick, president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. "They know how crucial it is to our future that young health professionals master the skills and knowledge they will need to help lead the continual improvement of care. I am deeply grateful that Kaiser Permanente has generously stepped forward as a key program founder for the Open School."
Created in September 2008, the IHI Open School has so far welcomed 9,500 registered students from 25 states in the United States and from nine countries worldwide, including India, Scotland, England, and Sweden. Many of these students are taking advantage of the school's novel program of free, virtual training and course work in quality improvement and patient safety. Although no prerequisites or tuition are required, health professional students will participate in a rigorous, structured, web-based learning environment.
Through the school's international network of campus and health system chapters, students connect with like-minded students and world-renowned faculty – both in person and online. Rather than using traditional institutional learning methods, students interact through learning portals across the World Wide Web, interface with faculty as necessary, and engage in problem solving through real-life health care scenarios. They utilize the harnessed knowledge of a virtual classroom filled with "classmates" armed with performance improvement methodologies and coaching.
About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care through out the world. Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, Mass., 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.
