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Radical Approach to Health Care
Saves 100,000 Lives“Mothers and fathers are at graduations and weddings they would have missed, and grandchildren will know grandparents they might never have known, and holidays will be taken, and work completed, and books read, and symphonies heard, and gardens tended that, without our work, would never have been.”
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Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The work Dr. Berwick refers to is the 100,000 Lives Campaign, an initiative that has not only lived up to its promise, but also challenged firmly established healthcare practices.
The campaign asked for voluntary adoption of six best practices with the goal of saving 100,000 lives in 18 months. By evaluating before and after mortality data provided by participants, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) reports the goal was exceeded by 22,300, while revolutionizing the modern approach to health care. Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin embraced the challenge and delivered impressive results.
John A.Weigelt, MD, DVM, Medical College of Wisconsin trauma surgeon, chief of Trauma Surgery and Critical Care and medical director of the Joint Quality Office, explains that until recently, data on procedures and outcomes had not been collected and analyzed. Review of the evidence showed certain approaches and procedures lead to better outcomes — that is, fewer deaths.
The new approach goes beyond the traditional view of the doctor as independent expert and emphasizes a team approach utilizing evidence-based best practices. As Geoffrey C. Lamb, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin internist and associate director of the Joint Quality Office, says, it was a matter of “recognizing we are a system, not just a lot of great doctors working side-by-side.” According to Dr.Weigelt, the effort was characterized by “a feeling of camaraderie in the spirit of doing the right thing.”
Source: Froedtert Today Date: September 2006 |