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Physician Quality Officer: A New Model for Engaging Physicians in Quality Improvement
Kathleen E. Walsh, MD, MSc*,
Walter H. Ettinger, MD, MBA,
and
Robert A. Klugman, MD
UMass Memorial Healthcare, Worcester, MA; University of Massachusetts School, Worcester, MA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: walshk02{at}ummhc.org.
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Abstract |
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The slow progress in health care quality improvement and patient safety in America can be attributed, in part, to the challenge of physician engagement. As multidisciplinary patient-centered care becomes the standard, it is essential to integrate physicians into this process. To this end, the UMass Memorial Medical Center redesigned its Physician Quality Officer (PQO) program in 2007. The PQOs of the UMass Memorial Medical Center, who are all practicing clinicians, are fully compensated for their time and effort, trained in safety science, and teamed with other members of the department of quality and patient safety. Over the first year of the new program, the PQOs have successfully led major hospital initiatives in areas such as surgical care improvement, critical values reporting, and medication reconciliation. In this article, the authors describe the challenges and insights in the development and implementation of this new program. (Am J Med Qual XXXX;XX:xx-xx)
First published on June 1, 2009, doi:10.1177/1062860609336219
American Journal of Medical Quality 2009;24:295.
A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2009
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