December 2011
President’s Column	Dear AHI Member, It has been a terrific year for AHI.  We write to share some of the highlights of accomplishments from 2011 and to preview some of the things to look for in the coming year. This year began with the AHI Board holding a strategic planning retreat which culminated in the creation of a new set of mission, vision and values for AHI.  Mission: The Academy for Healthcare Improvement is an interprofessional community that advances quality improvement in health care through scholarly and educational activities. Vision:  We strive for a high value, continuously improving, health care system. Values: · Science advancing the continuous improvement of health, health care, and value · Interprofessional collaboration · Professional development and leadership · Cultural awareness In addition, the Board identified five strategic areas to guide our work over the coming three years: Goal #1: Thriving Membership and Funding Be the organization of choice for professionals in quality improvement and therefore have the necessary infrastructure and resources. Goal #2: Communication / Publication Provide a retrievable repository of QI information, publications, and resources and to engage in ongoing communications with members and stakeholders on the organization’s activities, events, and field of QI. Goal #3: Education/Professional Development/Scholarship Develop the methods and learning opportunities in the health professional education about quality, safety and value. Goal #4: Networking/Relationships/Collaboration Develop the methods and learning opportunities for how to teach about quality, safety and value; use this in one’s own professional development; and describe approaches for studying and writing about this work. Goal #5: Public Policy/Funding for Field Aim to help members to shape the culture, policies and standards so that quality improvement methods are welcomed when they are part of the appropriate tools to use, including in funding, training, and evaluation. Since March, the Board has worked with many AHI members to begin achieving these five goals.  Our membership has grown to more than 250!  We enhanced our website – a new face and many new features.  One feature is an improved system for member registration.  A second feature is an enhanced member database that allows members to find other members of AHI related to topics, location, profession, etc.  We are working to make our website a better place for members to find key resources in quality improvement and patient safety.  One example of this is the Care Transitions search link.  We will place additional links in the coming months. In April, AHI endorsed the Partnership for Patients to Improve Care and Lower Costs for Americans, a major national initiative to improve hospital safety and care transitions in the US.  In doing so we noted that for many years, America has invested in medical research to improve health care and has counted on better aligned funding to improve delivery of services.  While those approaches are important, America needs to work on the delivery system itself, making it more reliable, efficient, and responsive to the needs of the people, and this initiative is a major start on that work. The Board has been working on strengthening existing partnerships and creating new ones as well.  We continue our long-standing partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).  AHI and IHI co-sponsored the 17^th Annual International Scientific Symposium in Orlando, Florida on December 5^th.  This was an exceptional meeting with over 350 participants.  Please see our website for the details of presenters and the winners of best presentations.  AHI presented the Paul Batalden Leadership Award to Brent James for his outstanding leadership and vision at Intermountain Health Care.  In addition, the Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation was presented to the University of Missouri at Columbia.  Congratulations to all awardees! Finally, the Board has been planning an AHI sponsored meeting on research methods for May, 2012.  This 2-day meeting on May 7-8 will bring together an international group of speakers and participants who are committed to advancing the field of improvement science.  Please see our website for details. We thank all of you for your continued interest and efforts on behalf of AHI. With warm wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year, Paul Miles and Mark Splaine
Scientific Symposium	The 17^th Annual Scientific Symposium sponsored by the Academy for Healthcare Improvement and Institute for Healthcare Improvement recently concluded earlier this month in Orlando, Florida and this year’s event broke all records for attendance with over 350 participants registered for the one-day event.  The goals of the 2011 Scientific Symposium were to: Encourage, accelerate and improve the science of continuous improvement in health care and health professions education. Provide a forum in which investigators from around the world can introduce new work for peer review and discussion. Awards presented at the event included the Duncan Neuhauser Award for Curricular Innovation. First place was awarded to the University of Missouri for “Interprofessional Safety Simulation” and the second place award was given to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Leadership Preventive Medicine Residency Program and the Concord Leadership Preventive Medicine Residency Program. The 1^st place winner of the AHI Best Presentation award went to Dr. Iyer at Cincinnati Children’s for his presentation, “Fast Track: Designing the System to Perform as the Name Suggests”.  Runners Up were Dr. Huppert from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital whose talk was, “Improving our Ability to Contact Adolescent Women with an STI: Results of a Planned Experiment” as well as Dr. Power from Salford in the United Kingdom who spoke about, “Stroke 90:10 – Improving Stroke Care Across North West of England using the IHI Breakthrough Series Collaborative Model.”  The 2012 AHI Paul Batalden Leadership Award was presented to Brent C. James, MD, for his outstanding leadership in advancing the scholarship of healthcare improvement.  Congratulations to all of our award winners.
Dues Notices for 2012	The Academy for Healthcare Improvement has recently sent out its 2012 dues notices. Please be certain to log onto the AHI website here to renew your membership and continue your support of the Academy for Healthcare Improvement and its programs and initiatives. Encourage your colleagues to join AHI as well.  Our call is to have 1,000 by the end of 2012.
May 7-8, 2012 AHI Conference	We are excited about our May 7-8, 2012, conference, “Advancing the Methods for Healthcare Improvement Research” in Arlington, Virginia, at the Marriott Crystal Gateway hotel. The Program Committee has put together a stellar line-up of world-renowned quality improvement experts.  Additionally, we are inviting the community to submit their work for possible platform or poster presentation.  The confirmed invited speakers / topics include: Quality Improvement Research and Randomized Controlled Trial                 Duncan Neuhauser, PhD Hybrid Research Designs for Quality Improvement                 Mark Bauer, MD Quasi-Experimental Designs for Quality Improvement Research                 Peter Margolis, MD Registries for Quality Improvement                 Richard B. Colletti, MD What the Future Holds for Quality Improvement Research                 Brian Mittman, MD Use of Registries: Time-Series and Risk-Adjusted Control Charts                 Michael Matheney, MD, MPH, MS Applicability of Quality Improvement Research for Comparative Effectiveness                 David Atkins, MD, MPH How the Science of Improvement Informs Disparities Research                 Don Goldmann, MD An Introduction to Costing Improvements, and Evaluating Complex QI & Implementation Programs                 John Øvretveit, PhD From Research to Policy: Call to Arms for QI                 Joanne Lynn, MD, MS AHI has been fortunate to receive sponsorships to help defray the costs for hosting this unique conference from the foundations of the American Board of Family Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Pediatrics, as well as the Altarum Institute, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. We are actively seeking more sponsorship.  Should you know of potential sponsors, please contact the AHI management office at 703/556-9222 or by e-mail to a4hi@a4hi.org. Submit your work for this conference!  AHI is now accepting abstract submissions for this conference on the following topics of emphasis: · Strong Study Design · Well-described Analytic Approaches · Mechanisms of Quality Improvement · Constructs and Theory of Implementation Science · Best Practices for Evaluation of Healthcare Delivery Improvement All specifics related to conference of the AHI including abstract submission instructions, travel and hotel information and registration, have been posted to the AHI website here.  Early-Bird registration rates currently apply but will expire on April 8, 2012 so be certain to sign up early to save on registration fees. The Program Committee consists of: Co-Chair: Ted Speroff, PhD, Vanderbilt University Co-Chair: Paul Miles, MD, American Board of Pediatrics Denise Dougherty, PhD, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Brian Mittman, MD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mark Splaine, MD, MS, Dartmouth University
AHI Bylaws	The Bylaws governing the Academy for Healthcare Improvement have recently been revised and approved by the Board of Directors. The revisions included restructuring the Board of Directors from the current 15 down to a leaner group of nine which includes the officers and five at large members. The officers will also serve longer terms than outlined in the previous bylaws. Beginning in late 2012, the President, President-Elect and Immediate Past President will now serve for a two-year term and the Secretary- Treasurer will serve for a period of three years.  The Bylaws have been posted to the AHI website for review by all.
Resources	The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has recently released a new resource for healthcare providers entitled “Guide to Reducing Unintended Consequences of Electronic Health Records.” It is available online here: www.ucguide.org. The guide represents a compilation of the known best practices for anticipating, avoiding, and addressing EHR-related unintended consequences. However, this area of research is still in its infancy and AHRQ notes that the guide is a work in progress and invites users to revise tools in keeping with unique circumstances and experiences.
AHI Website	The AHI Website Committee, led by Board Member Greg Ogrinc, is working hard to elevate our website to a resource for members containing rich content for member viewing only. Currently, the committee is working toward developing a number of brief videos on specific topics of interest to quality improvement researchers and educators. Areas identified to date include the following potential subjects: Introduction to the SQUIRE Guidelines How to submit a QI article SPC – adjust risk How to frame your CV in relation to promote QI work How to submit a great QI meeting abstract Should you have any suggestions for additional content, please contact the AHI office at a4hi@a4hi.org.