Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Learning Objectives: At the end of this activity, you will be able to:
Summarize an example of a time when a health care system performed flawlessly for one patient
Discuss how tracking data can help lead to better patient outcomes
Explain why coordinated care should be the goal for every patient, every time.
Description: In this video, IHI’s President Emeritus and Senior Fellow Don Berwick, MD, MPP, tells the story of seeing a 4-year-old boy with acute asthma. What followed was “music” to Berwick — coordinated care that resulted in the best outcome for the patient and less cost to the health system.
Discussion Questions:
- Which components of the system — more specifically, which actors and technologies — played a role in helping the patient get better?
- Which care provider do you think played the most important role in the positive patient outcome? Did they all contribute equally? Why or why not?
- How was the mother using improvement science to help control her son’s asthma? Why was that important to the story?
- According to Dr. Berwick, what would have happened to the boy if the care had been uncoordinated? Do you agree?
- Have you ever witnessed a similar example of excellent coordinated care? What happened?
