News from the University of Michigan OS Chapter

The University of Michigan IHI Open School Chapter is really excited about our year so far. We began in the fall with a series of formative meetings in which we discussed the principles of IHI and quality-oriented, patient-centered care, and explored the challenges we face as future health professionals through case studies. Initially, our core group was comprised almost exclusively of Public Health graduate students in Health Management and Policy; when we reconvened after the holiday break, we all agreed that it was time to grow.

Growth for us means two things. First, part of our vision for IHI Open School here at UoM is creating an interdisciplinary coalition, and we are actively recruiting from all the health professional schools. At our last general meeting, we had representation from students in medicine, public health, business, and law, and we expect strong representation from nursing at our upcoming general meeting.

The second part of our vision for IHI Open School is creating a three dimensional learning experience, focused on:
1) increasing our knowledge around patient-centered care and quality improvement,
2) developing skills for promoting ideal care and overcoming existing barriers to its achievement
3) pursuing opportunities for hands-on, project-based experiences to deepen and solidify our knowledge and skills

As such, we are currently exploring several happenings here at UoM and looking for ways for IHI Open School members to both learn and contribute. As we remain in an information gathering phase, it is too early to say too much about where these will lead, but we are very hopeful of the possibilities they represent. Please check out our blog to see descriptions of where we are focusing our efforts. Stay tuned!

-The University of Michigan IHI OS Team

Sprint Action Day! Today!

Today is the “Sprint Action Day” for the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist team. For those of you looking for a way to get involved or are looking for something to do with your Chapter, we created a Student Sprint Action Guide

Check it out! Your Chapter Challenge is to complete at least one of the tasks by April 1st, 2009!

Click here for more information about Sprint Action Day.

Leading from the Bottom Up: What did you think?

You probably have lots of ideas for improving health care. But as a student, you may feel a little unsure about how you're going to make them happen.

During today's On Call teleconference, Dr. Jim Reinertsen -- a senior fellow at IHI and former CEO of several health systems -- listed ways that students can lead improvement even when they lack formal power.

Jim's going to be checking this post for the next month and will jump into the conversation to answer questions. So tell us:

• Have you ever taken a leadership stance in your organization? How did it go?



• What do you think of the idea of "no complaints" as a central principle of leadership?



• Do you think you have the power to change health care from the bottom up?



• Do you agree that you don't need charisma or eloquence to be a good leader?
  

Any topic is fair game. You can comment by clicking on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post.

If you didn't catch the call, listen to the recording or download the transcript.

We Need You! National Health Service Corps Scholarship

At the White House Health Summit last Thursday, when President Obama was asked about support for the development of nurses in his health reform efforts, President Obama replied saying, "This is a no brainer."

The Recovery Act has allotted $500 million to boost health care workers' training and employment with $300 million to double the number of beneficiaries in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC).

NHSC's mission is to unite communities in need with caring health professionals and to support communities' efforts to build better systems of care. The NHSC provides comprehensive team-based health care that bridges geographic, financial, cultural, and language barriers with a large emphasis on delivering quality health care to all. The NHSC specifically addresses populations and health issues that have the highest racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in treatment success. These include HIV/AIDS, mental health, dental care, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.

Through strategies that include forming partnerships with communities, States, and educational institutions, the NHSC hopes to shape the way providers practice and work with the underserved. Of particular interest to health professions students are the opportunities that the NHSC provides to work with the underserved. These opportunities include:

1) Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs
2) SEARCH (Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health) Program

With the influx of money provided by the Recovery Act, about 80 new scholarships will be awarded this year. The NHSC is looking for students interested in careers as primary care physicians (MD or DO in family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, general psychiatry), primary care nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and general dentists or pediatric dentists. To find out more about the NHSC scholarship, click here.

Thanks Jay for sending out the information!

Join us on the Surgical Safety Checklist Sprint Action Day: March 10th

In December 2008, at IHI's National Forum for Quality Improvement in Health Care, Dr. Don Berwick challenged us all to join IHI in a unique social enterprise:

For EVERY hospital in the US to test the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist at least ONCE with ONE operating room team by April 1, 2009.

The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has shown tremendous potential to save lives. A paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that implementation of the checklist can reduce inpatient complications and prevent deaths. The one year pilot study has the potential to prevent 9,360,000 complications and 1, 638,000 deaths (assuming 234 million operations performed globally every year). Watch the checklist in action:



Since December 2008, look what's been happening...


How are things going?

Join us on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 for Sprint Action Day to find out! Sprint Action Day is a day designed to support and accelerate testing and use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. Have questions? Has your local hospital tested the Checklist? Need advice on testing the Checklist? Already tested the Checklist? Tell us how it went! Have questions on how students can get involved?

Hear from Dr. Don Berwick, IHI Director Fran Griffin, and other key participants from 3-4pm ET. Click here for more details.

Also, check out the Sprint Action Day blog!

Leading from the Bottom Up: On Call with Jim Reinertsen

Things look a lot bigger and taller from the bottom...

Join us for an On Call Event with Jim Reinerstein

Monday, March 9, 2009 – 5:30-6:30 pm Eastern

Sure, you want to improve the quality of health care. But you’re just a student – who’s going to listen to you?

Plenty of people, if you know how to approach them. Join guest speaker Jim Reinertsen, senior fellow at IHI and the former CEO of three health systems in Minnesota and Massachusetts, as he explains how you can lead from the bottom of your organization. You’ll learn:

* What it means to lead from the bottom up
* The barriers you’re likely to face and how to overcome them
* Communication styles that can increase your influence
* Tips and action ideas you can use right away

Jim Reinertsen, MD, is president of The Reinertsen Group, and has 15 years of experience as a CEO and 20 years as a practicing physician. Among other roles, he has been a member of the IOM Committees that produced To Err Is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, and was a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Join this free call! Advance registration is required. Click here to register!

This free call is part of a monthly audio conference series that brings experts in health care improvement together with students from medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, health care management, public health, and other allied health professions. Each hour-long call is moderated by a student, ends with a question-and-answer period, and focuses on an issue that affects you. Visit our website to download audio files or written transcripts of past On Call audio conferences.

Hope to see you all on the call!

Religion and Culture Influencing Hand Hygiene

I recently came across a very interesting article in the American Journal of Infection Control, which discussed how religion and culture could potentially influence the promotion of hand hygiene in healthcare. The World Health Organization's Global Patient Safety Challenge, "Clean Care is Safer Care," is dedicated to tackling the issue of health care-associated infection worldwide.

The authors of the article, titled Religion and Culture: Potential undercurrents influencing hand hygiene promotion in health care, wanted to investigate if religious faith and culture could impact hand hygiene behavior. Here is what they found:

Results: Religious faith and culture can strongly influence hand hygiene behavior in health care workers and potentially affect compliance with best practices. Interesting data were retrieved on specific indications for hand cleansing according to the 7 main
religions worldwide, interpretation of hand gestures, the concept of "visibly dirty" hands, and the sure of alcohol-based hand rubs and prohibition of alcohol use in some religions.

Conclusions: The impact of religious faith and cultural specificities must be taken into consideration when implementing a multimodal strategy to promote hand hygiene on a global scale.

While this study needs additional research, it provides an interesting perspective on hand hygiene compliance particularly considering the need to involve patients and families in hand hygiene awareness and practice. As with many patient safety and patient care initiatives, it is always important to consider an individual's religious and cultural beliefs when attempting to apply innovative concepts.