THE ACADEMY FOR HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT
The Academy for Healthcare Improvement (AHI) is a professional society to support the science of quality improvement in both education and implementation research. Members of the society come from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and the United States and include nursing, medicine, pharmacy, and health administration.
The society sponsors several activities related to improving the scholarship of quality and safety. AHI sponsors the International Scientific Symposium and a research track at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI's) National Forum. AHI has created a Web-based peer review system of safety and quality improvement curricula. If accepted by reviewers, the curricula are then available on the AHI Web page (http://www.a4hi.org) as a resource to members and others in the improvement community.
THE DUNCAN NEUHAUSER CURRICULAR INNOVATION AWARDS
To encourage the development and dissemination of original curricular materials pertaining to the teaching of improvement in health care, AHI is announcing the first annual Duncan Neuhauser Curricular Innovation Awards in health care improvement. This award will be presented at the AHI Scientific Symposium annually. The award will recognize new curricular material that has potential for significant impact in teaching improvement in health care, is innovative in its educational approach, and has the ability to be adopted by other schools, institutions, or professions. A first prize of $500 will be awarded, with the second and third place awardees receiving $300 and $200, respectively.
IHI OPEN SCHOOL FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS
The IHI created the IHI Open School for Health Professions, a virtual school, not a physical one, to teach patient safety and quality improvement skills to the next generation of health care professionals in pharmacy, nursing, dentistry, medicine, health management, health policy, and allied health. The IHI Open School is "the other school," which students attend at their convenience while enrolled in their current educational programs. There are no applications, no admissions requirements, and no fees. Online offerings including courses, case studies, videos, podcasts, and discussions designed to help students develop competencies in quality improvement and patient safety at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels and certification is available.
To supplement the IHI Open School's online delivery system (http://www.ihi.org/OpenSchool), a network of local chapters offers students the chance to learn and compare notes with like-minded students from different health care professions and to undertake projects with other students to apply quality improvement knowledge.
QUALITY AND SAFETY EDUCATION FOR NURSES
The overall goal for the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project is to meet the challenge of preparing future nurses who will have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the health care systems within which they work. QSEN has been funded since its inception in October 2005 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Led by a national advisory board and distinguished faculty, QSEN pursues strategies to build will and develop effective teaching approaches to ensure that future graduates develop competencies in patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics.
In 2009-2012, QSEN: Phase III will be conducted through 2 grants (to UNC-Chapel Hill: L. Cronenwett; and to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing: G. Bednash). The purposes in Phase III are faculty development supported with curricular resources developed and disseminated through regional conferences, the QSEN Speaker's Bureau, QSEN National Forums, Web-based modules, and the QSEN Web site: http://www.qsen.org. In addition, QSEN will partner with the VA National Quality Scholars Fellowship Program to support nursing pre- and postdoctoral students in an interprofessional program of training in quality improvement and safety.
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT COURSE AND ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAM
This interactive Web site (http://nhs.georgetown.edu/cqi) includes an online course at Georgetown University by Dr Farrokh Alemi. The site includes a step-by-step guide for education on improving services through continuous quality improvement. The content is provided free of charge. Included on the site are reading materials, software, "think-it-through" exercises, and communication links with experts in the field.
THE HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT SKILLS CENTER
The Healthcare Improvement Skills Center (HISC) is an Internet resource developed through the combined efforts of the University of Missouri, Columbia, Academy for Post Graduate Medical Care Education, the Case Western Reserve University's CME program, and Division of Information Technology Services, with a great deal of support from the IHI. The purpose is to support health care professionals seeking to make systematic improvements in the quality of the health care they provide to their patients. The Web site (http://www.improvementskills.org) includes an array of learning resources, featuring 6 case-based, highly interactive learning modules. The modules provide a sound introduction to quality improvement in health care and are free of charge.