A Bit More Background

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in Crossing the Quality Chasm listed 6 areas in need of improvement:

• Safety—avoid injury to patients from the care that is in tended to help them
• Timeliness—reduce waits and harmful delays
• Effectiveness—provide services based on scientific knowl edge to all who could benefit and refrain from providing ser vices to those not likely to benefit (avoiding overuse and underuse, respectively)
• Efficiency—avoid waste
• Equitability—provide care that does not vary in quality be cause of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographical location, and socioeconomic status
• Patient centeredness—provide care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values

These are the areas that I hope to write about in this blog.  I'll write about each area (in no particular order).  And I'll try to cover each in terms of its background, challenges, possible solutions & progress. From time to time I'll also write about the quality improvement movement in healthcare.  I may also write about one-off topics that are of interest to me. My goal is to write about the healthcare delivery system today in a way that is understandable to the non-expert; addressed to the current and/or future patient rather than the professionals.

Why Healthcare Today?

There is a revolution happening in healthcare in the United States. A report by the Institute of Medicine, Crossing the Quality Chasm, in 2001 (and backed up by numerous reports since then) documented that the U.S. healthcare system is less than it could or should be.  Among the problems are:

• Patients don't get the care that research says that they should;
• Treatments are delivered in many different settings and too often the healthcare providers are not able to share information or coordinate care;
• Millions of Americans are injured each year by preventable errors and mistakes
• Healthcare is expensive in the US and other countries deliver the same or better care for less money.

The good news is that there is a massive effort underway to correct this situation.  I thought that by writing about the progress of this effort I may be able to inform others of strides we are now making.  There is much happening and much to be yet determined.  It's an exciting time in healthcare.