Ambulatory Care
A growing number of quality improvement projects are enabling patients, families, and advocates to advise and affect decision-making within their local health care systems. A new report from Aligning Forces for Quality shares the experiences of five communities that are engaging consumers to improve ambulatory care. A recent Lessons Learned piece describes efforts made in the Humboldt County, Oregon, Minnesota, Maine, and South Central Pennsylvania alliances to incorporate consumer engagement into ambulatory quality improvement efforts. While each approach is different, each communities...
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Better Health Greater Cleveland’s efforts to spread the adoption of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of care and electronic health records was the subject of a Plain Dealer editorial. The editorial board opined that cost-saving efforts such as medical homes could not only strongly position Cleveland for federal grants such as the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative but also lure more businesses into the area.
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The Puget Sound Health Alliance’s monthly Spotlight on Improvement for January 2012 highlights the quality improvement efforts made by the University of Washington in spirometry testing. Spirometry, a common way to measure functioning of the lungs, is used to diagnose conditions ranging from asthma to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The test is administered during a clinical visit and then interpreted by the physician. If health care team members haven’t been properly trained in the use of equipment, it can possibly lead to improperly administered or...
Improving the quality of ambulatory care has been an area of focus for Aligning Forces for Quality since its inception. Ambulatory care is medical care provided on an outpatient basis—therefore, not requiring a person to be admitted to the hospital. It is provided in physicians' offices, clinics, emergency departments, outpatient surgery centers and hospital settings that do not involve a patient staying overnight. By working with a variety of models such as patient-centered medical homes, practice coaching, learning collaboratives and accountable care organizations, the AF4Q Alliances are developing the essential components to create an infrastructure that supports sustainable improvements in ambulatory quality.
Robert Graham, the national program director of Aligning Forces for Quality, was a featured presenter at an Alliance for Health Reform briefing on Capitol Hill, along with AF4Q Program Director Jim Chase from Minnesota and Anne Weiss from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The webcast and accompanying PowerPoint presentations are now available online.