Commission selects Med Center to develop quality-care program

The University's Medical Center was one of four institutions chosen to develop a curriculum designed to help health-care professionals improve the quality of their care, the nation's largest health-care accreditation organization announced Monday. Penn will join with medical centers from Emory, Northwestern and Ohio State universities to help the Joint Commission on Accreditation -- which evaluates over 18,000 health care organizations per year -- establish a new Academy for Healthcare Quality. The academy -- which will be based in the joint commission's headquarters in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- will offer graduate-level and continuing-education courses, as well as professional education and certification programs for health-care executives. The four member institutions were selected based on the quality of their curriculum and teaching, reputation in the health-care community, experience in virtual learning techniques and ability to raise the necessary funds for the project. Penn was strong in all areas except virtual learning, but the strengths and weaknesses of each of the four institutions will help create a balanced consortium, Joint Commission Director of Educational Services Development Bruce Ente said. The University will help raise funds for the Academy and may agree to match corporate gifts toward the new organization, Ente added. "The experience that Penn has in medical and continuing professional education will be an asset to us as we develop the curriculum," he said. Medical School Dean William Kelley said he is excited about the "integral role" the University will play in establishing the academy. "We bring to the partnership our hands-on experience in designing and implementing systems that not only effectively measure and control quality factors, but serve to increase the overall quality of care," he said. The academy's curriculum is still being developed, but Ente said it will include classes on 19 topics -- ranging from organization management and leadership to improving patient care. "The notion is that these topics cover what a competent health professional ought to know and ought to be able to do to improve patient care outcomes at their health-care organization," he said. Ente added that this "broad and inclusive curriculum" will allow the Academy to meet the needs of healthcare professionals such as executives, clinicians, consultants, surveyors and benefits managers. The Joint Commission has already met with its four member institutions to begin discussing the curriculum, and the academy will begin offering classes in about a year, Ente said. Officials at the academy's other member universities stressed that they were "privileged to be associated with such a prestigious group of institutions." "Through teaching others how to improve how they provide care, we can improve the quality of health-care for everyone," said Gail Marsh, director of Quality and Operations Improvement at Ohio State's Medical Center.