Quality Improvement in Parallel Circuits: VA System Redesign, Operational Systems Engineering, and Implementation Research
As a learning organization, VHA continually strives to provide better care for Veterans. Toward this effort, VA's Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center on Implementing Evidence-based Practice, VA/HSR&D's Stroke Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), and the VISN 11 VA Engineering Resource Center (VERC) hosted the HSR&D/VERC conference "Quality Improvement in Parallel Circuits" in Indianapolis on July 14-15, 2010.
The Conference hosted representatives engaged in quality improvement from research, clinical, and administrative sectors of the VHA, in order to facilitate collaborations and develop mechanisms to support improvement projects that advance care given to Veterans. The emphasis of the Conference was to underscore areas of scientific, operational, and methodologic convergence for quality improvement projects, as well as the importance of cultivating the relationship between Implementation Research and Systems Engineering.
Conference presentations included:
Introduction to Systems Redesign (SR) and Operational Systems Engineering (OSE)
- What is SR? - Heather Woodward-Hagg, MS, VISN11 VERC Director
- What methods and training does SR employ? - Heather Woodward-Hagg, MS
- How are SR/OSE methods being used? - Peter Woodbridge, MD, MBA, Midwest Mountain Region VERC Director, Heather Woodward-Hagg, MS, Diana Ordin, MD, VA Office of Quality Performance
Introduction to Implementation Research (IR)
- What is IR? - Brian Mittman, PhD, Director of the VA HSR&D Center for Implementation Practice and Research Support
- What methods and training does IR employ? - Teresa Damush, PhD, Implementation Research Coordinator VA HSR&D Stroke QUERI
- How is IR being used to improve care? - Jeffrey Smith, PhD, Implementation Research Coordinator VA HSR&D Mental Health QUERI, MH QUERI Depression Collaborative Care portfolio
Overview of T21 Initiatives - James Tuchschmidt, MD, MM, Acting Director Office of Healthcare Transformation
Examples of joint HSR/SR work
- Toolkits: Cancer Care Collaborative - Steve Asch, MD, Research Director VA HSR&D HIV/Hepatitis QUERI
- Modeling - Mike Rubin, MD, PhD, Section Chief of Epidemiology Salt Lake City HCS
- Interventions: Stroke Collaborative/INSPIRE project - Linda Williams, MD, Research Coordinator VA HSR&D Stroke QUERI
- Evaluations: RPIW/Collaborative Evaluation Model - Edward Miech, Ed.D., VERC/CIEBP
VERC 101
Snapshot of the four VERCs
- Janis Hersh, MBA, VISN 1 VERC Acting Co-Director (8:25-8:40)
- Robert Monte, RPh, MBA, Director, Office of Systems Redesign, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (8:40-8:55)
- Peter Woodbridge, MD, MBA (8:55-9:10)
QUERI 101
- What is QUERI (goals, structure, metrics, funding) - David Atkins, MD, Director of QUERI
- QUERI's relationship to HSR&D and Operations - Steve Fihn, MD, MPH