Prior to starting graduate school, I had very little understanding of what other organizations are involved in patient care outside of physician practices and hospitals. The following organizations are discussed often in our classes.
The Joint Commission. Anyone in healthcare knows this name. They are the accrediting body for the majority of facilities.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). IHI is one of the largest organization in terms of focusing on patient care across facilities. There are student chapters, including one here in San Antonio, that have helped us better understand the safety and quality issues in our current healthcare system. One of the catalysts for their initiatives started when a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), "Crossing the Quality Chasm" (2001), revealed the shocking amount of preventable errors in healthcare.
The Advisory Board Company. A very well known research and consulting company that aids providers in current trends, market research, and data analytics.
If you are going into hospital administration, become familiar with these organizations.
I would also mention the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. They work a lot on a level similar to IHI. Being familiar with AHRQ translates into understanding a lot about the biggest issues in healthcare, especially quality.
ReplyDeleteThe Commonwealth Fund is another organization I've helpful a lot of good research and statistics, like the Advisory Board.
There are also tons of organizations aimed at more specific causes that it would be good to be aware of such as lean (healthcare value leaders network is one example), patient empowerment (society for participatory medicine), and more.
Thanks for the post, Alex, it's definitely something important for future administrators!
-Brett Lee
Thank you Brett! You add some good insight! It amazes me how many organizations there are that support providers in the industry, and how essential they are to providing quality care.
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