title: Fostering a Commitment to Quality: Best Practices in Safety-net Hospitals.
abstract: In 2007, the Martin Luther King, Jr.-Harbor Hospital (MLK-Harbor), which served a large safety-net population in South Los Angeles, closed due to quality challenges. Shortly thereafter, an agreement was made to establish a new hospital, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH), to serve the unmet needs of the community. To assist the newly appointed MLKCH Board of Directors in building a culture of quality, we conducted a series of interviews with five high-performing hospital systems. In this report, we describe our findings. The hospitals we interviewed achieved a culture of quality by: 1) developing guiding principles that foster quality; 2) hiring and retaining personnel who are stewards of quality; 3) promoting efficient resource utilization; 4) developing a well-organized quality improvement infrastructure; and 5) cultivating integrated, patient-centric care. The institutions highlighted in this report provide important lessons for MLKCH and other safety-net institutions.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hochman
authors.forename: Medell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Briggs-Malonson
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wilkes
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.forename: Lauren Patty
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Daskivich
authors.forename: Tannaz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moin
authors.forename: Ilanit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brook
authors.forename: Gery W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Brook
authors.forename: Carol M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mangione
mesh_terms: D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D058996:Quality Improvement; D064876:Safety-net Providers