Fine AM, Kalish LA, Forbes P, Goldmann D, Mandl KD, Porter SC. Parent-driven technology for decision support in pediatric emergency care. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2009 Jun;35(6):307-315.

The purpose of this study was to determine if parent-driven health information technology (HIT) influenced completeness of documentation and adherence to evidence-based emergency care for children. Parent-driven HIT suggested a trend toward modest impact on pain management but did not demonstrate broad effects across diseases or care processes. The personally controlled health record presents opportunities for incorporating parent-derived information into medical decision making.

Langley GL, Nolan KM, Nolan TW, Norman CL, Provost LP
San Francisco, California, USA: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 2009

The Model for Improvement, an integrated approach to process improvement that delivers quick and substantial results in quality and productivity in diverse settings, is explored. This updated edition includes new information on accelerating improvement by spreading changes across multiple sites. A practical tool kit of ideas and examples from diverse industries, including health care, and international improvement efforts are shared.

Berwick DM. The epitaph of profession. British Journal of General Practice. Advance online publication. 25 Nov 2008; DOI: 10.3399/bjgp08X376438.

In an October 2008 address to the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK, Dr. Donald Berwick makes observations about the changing medical profession by reflecting on his father's career as a physician in rural Connecticut. He describes the attitudes, skills, and knowledge that the "new professional" must have.

Godfrey MM, Melin CN, Muething SE, Batalden PB, Nelson EC. Clinical microsystems, part 3: Transformation of two hospitals using microsystem, mesosystem, and macrosystem strategies. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2008 Oct;34(10):591-603.

This article describes how two hospitals — a large, urban academic medical center and a rural, community hospital — chose a similar microsystem-based approach to improvement, customizing the engagement and the improvement targets on the basis of an understanding of the local context. The authors conclude that their improvement experience suggests tips and actions at all levels of the organization that could be adapted with specific context knowledge by others.

Berwick DM. Escape Fire: Lessons for the Future of Health Care. New York, New York: The Commonwealth Fund; November 2002.

This monograph presents the December 9, 1999, “Escape Fire” keynote address by IHI President and CEO Dr. Donald M. Berwick at IHI’s 11th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, in which he describes a 1949 wildfire that broke out on a Montana hillside, taking the lives of 13 young men and changing the way firefighting was managed in the United States. Dr. Berwick applies the lessons learned from this catastrophe to the health care system and outlines an ambitious program for reform, what Berwick calls an "escape fire," the term firefighters use for a deliberately burnt patch of land that, in an emergency, can provide refuge from an oncoming blaze.

Davidoff F, Batalden P, Stevens D, Ogrinc G, Mooney SE; for the SQUIRE development group. Publication guidelines for quality improvement in health care: Evolution of the SQUIRE project. Quality and Safety in Health Care. 2008 Oct;17(Suppl 1):i3-i9.

In 2005, draft guidelines were published for reporting studies of health care quality improvement interventions. This article contains the full revised version of the guidelines, which the authors refer to as SQUIRE (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence). Also see the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration article. [Learn more on the SQUIRE Guidelines website.]

Schouten LM, Hulscher ME, van Everdingen JJ, Huijsman R, Grol RP. Evidence for the impact of quality improvement collaboratives: Systematic review. British Medical Journal. 2008 Jun 28;336(7659):1491-1494.

The authors conclude that the evidence underlying quality improvement collaboratives is positive but limited. They suggest that further knowledge to understand the basic components and success factors is needed. The accompanying Lindenauer editorial states that many improvement collaboratives "have improved care and saved many lives at participating hospitals," and he suggests these positive effects might have been missed due to various factors.

Kenney C
New York, New York: PublicAffairs; 2008

Starting in the late 1990s, reports emerged showing that treatment-related deaths were the fifth leading cause of death for Americans, and hundreds of thousands of patients were being harmed by medical procedures. A group of visionary physicians, led by Donald Berwick and Paul Batalden, embarked on applying industrial quality improvement techniques in health care despite resistance from the medical community. This book tells the story of the burgeoning health care quality movement, and of how the medical landscape is being radically transformed — for the better. *For every book ordered using the Amazon.com link below, IHI will donate 10% of the purchase price to Medically Induced Trauma Support Services (MITSS).

Wasson JH, Anders SG, Moore LG, et al. Clinical microsystems, part 2: Learning from micro practices about providing patients the care they want and need. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2008 Aug;34(8):445-452.

Small, independent practices — micro practices — are incorporating attributes of successful microsystems such as patient focus, process improvement, performance patterns, and information technology to provide patients with the care they want and need.

Nelson EC, Godfrey MM, Batalden PB, et al. Clinical microsystems, part 1: The building blocks of health systems. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2008 Jul;34(7):367-378.

The body of knowledge on clinical microsystems can guide and support innovation and peak performance. Patients move into and out of an assortment of clinical microsystems such as a family practitioner's office, an emergency department, and an intensive care unit — their own unique "health system." This patient-centric view of a health system is the foundation of second-generation development for clinical microsystems.