Slide Presentation of the 2007 Annual Meeting of AHRQ

The IOM's messages:

1. Errors are serious.
2. The system is at fault not people.
3. Improvements in both safety and efficiency are recommended

Although both goals are laudable, the IOM did not address the possibility that achieving one goal might be at odds with the other.

Notes:

IOM system improvement aims
Safe: avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them.
Effective: providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit, and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit.
Patient-centered: providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.
Timely: reducing waits and sometimes harmful delays for both those who receive and those who give care.
Efficient: avoiding waste, including waste of equipment, supplies, ideas, and energy.
Equitable: providing care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status.