title: Creating champions for health care quality and safety.
abstract: Patient safety and quality of care are public concerns that demand personal responsibility at all levels of the health care organization. Senior residents in our graduate medical education program took responsibility for a capstone quality improvement project designed to transform them into champions for health care quality. Residents (n = 26) participated alone or in pairs in a 1-month faculty-mentored rotation at the Veterans Administration Hospital during the 2007-2008 academic year. They completed a Web-based curriculum, identified a quality-of-care issue, applied Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, authored a report, and engaged colleagues in their innovations during a department-wide presentation. Results indicated that residents demonstrated significantly enhanced knowledge and attitudes about patient safety and quality improvement and provided consistently positive faculty and rotation evaluations. In addition, residents generated 20 quality improvement project proposals with a 50% rate of hospital-wide implementation, leading to meaningful changes in the systems that affect patient care.
authors: William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Administration Hospital, Madison, WI 53705, USA. Robert.Holland@va.gov
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Holland
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Meyers
authors: Christopher
authors: C
authors: Hildebrand
authors: Alan J
authors: AJ
authors: Bridges
authors: Mary A
authors: MA
authors: Roach
authors: Bennett
authors: B
authors: Vogelman
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D011361:Professional Competence; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D017751:Safety Management; D014922:Wisconsin