| Mission Statement |
Why we exist
American health care continues to be plagued by systemic problems including suboptimal quality of care, inadequate access to care, and widespread disparities in care. Health professionals are uniquely positioned to improve the health care system through their direct interaction with patients and policymakers alike, yet traditional education has left them ill-prepared to assume this responsibility.
Vision
"Every emerging health professional will be prepared to interface with and impact health care systems in order to improve patient care."
Mission
In pursuit of this vision, the role of ImproveHealthCare is to:
1. Motivate students and professionals to learn about quality, access and disparities in the health care system.
2. Create resources that provide:
a. Effective and reliable educational content;
b. An infrastructure for discussion and collaboration.
3. Engage emerging health professionals to become active participants in health systems improvement.
4. Champion efforts in education reform aimed at bringing health care improvement concepts and methods to all emerging health professionals.
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| Project History |
ImproveHealthCare was founded in 2003 with a vision of generating greater interest in health systems issues across the medical profession. Housed in the Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care policy and initially funded by a small grant from the Commonwealth Fund, the initiative defined three categories as being critically important to the education of physicians: health quality, access, and disparities.
After extensive development, the group launched ImproveHealthCare.org in 2006, a web-based resource that uses a curriculum of clinical cases, issue briefs and lecture videos to educate users about these issues. This novel mode of health policy education offers an innovative approach to educating health care professionals about how health policy and health systems interface to affect the practice of medicine and, ultimately, the care of patients. In limited promotion efforts, the site has been met with considerable interest and enthusiasm from premedical students, medical students, and medical school faculty. Resident physicians, fellows, practicing physicians, as well as health professional students in pharmacy, physician assisting, and nursing can also find value in this resource.
To date, 10 cases have been posted on the initiative's professionally developed web site, www.improvehealthcare.org. Each case is adaptable to a number of settings, including standalone use, student-led discussions in a small or large group format, or in curricular courses that cover health policy or health systems education. Two cases were incorporated into Harvard Medical School's Patient Doctor III course and were found by students to cover extremely useful information not otherwise covered by the medical school's curriculum. Through additional outreach efforts thus far, cases have been taught to current HMS students in years I through IV, pre-medical students across the Boston area, and medical students at 16 other medical schools across the U.S. and in Norway.
The initiative's core staff - 2007-8 HMS 1st year directors: Lior Braunstein, Craig Szela, Chitra Akileswaran, and Rocky Samuel; and 2006-7 HMS 2nd year directors: Jordan Bohnen, Michael Farias, Nir Harish, Vinod Nambudiri, and Dellie Sorel - are advised and supported in their efforts by website co-founder Sachin Jain (HMS '08), Dr. Barbara McNeil, Chairperson of the Department of Health Care Policy at HMS, Lindsay Craw in the Department of Health Care Policy, and numerous key faculty members at Harvard and other leading institutions. led in 2006-7 by HMS 2nd year Directors Jordan Bohnen, Michael Farias, Nir Harish, Vinod Nambudiri, and Dellie Sorel - is advised and supported in their efforts by website co-founder Sachin Jain (HMS '08), Dr. Barbara McNeil, Chairperson of the Department of Health Care Policy at HMS, Lindsay Craw in the Department of Health Care Policy, and numerous key faculty members at Harvard and other leading institutions. Student-developed content has been edited by a professional editor, and by physicians at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.
As part of its outreach efforts, ImproveHealthCare has presented to numerous medical school deans and faculty as part of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Health Policy Education Collaborative; the American Medical Student Association's (AMSA) general assembly; and the American Medical Association's Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS). The project was a finalist for the Massachusetts Medical Society's Technology Leadership award and was awarded the Best Abstract Award from AMSA in 2005. Additionally, ImproveHealthCare has brokered content and distribution partnerships with numerous organizations including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Commonwealth Fund.
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| Flash Presentation |
Click here to view our Flash Presentation.
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| Overview of Efforts |
Tosteson Health Policy Lecture Series
The Daniel C. Tosteson Lecture Series is a joint venture between the students and faculty of Harvard Medical School, created in 1997. This lecture series creates a formal, extracurricular structure for medical students to engage with individuals across the health care policy spectrum - from physicians, to hospital executives, to politicians, to academicians and more. The interest generated in the Tosteson Lecture Series not only helps foster further academic engagement by students in these fields, but also serves as a mechanism by which ImproveHealthCare.org reaches out to students interested these topics.
This Year's Lectures
- The first Tosteson Lecture of the year was delivered October 4th by Michael Porter. He spoke on "Value-Based Health Care Policy." The lecture was a whirlwind tour of Porter's vision for a more productive US healthcare system, which spends less time caught up in zero sum competition and more time generating real value for the medical consumer. As an international economic authority and co-author of "Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results" (Harvard Business School Press), Mr. Porter's ideals will influence changing healthcare policy throughout the world. The event drew a large audience of more than a hundred medical students, physicians, and academics.
- ImproveHealthCare.org coordinated a presentation and discussion by Senator Barack Obama's Presidential health policy architects, David Blumenthal MD, MPP and Stuart Altman PhD on October 11th. The event entitled "Devising a Presidential Health Policy" drew a large audience of around a hundred medical students, physicians, and academics.
- On October 25th Drew Altman PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Henry J. Kaiser. Family Foundation spoke about the future of US healthcare. He described how the Kaiser Foundation's nonpartisan investigation of health care policy creates an objective forum to stimulate policy advances in the US. Over 50 medical students and area professionals attended this Tosteson talk.
- Future Tosteson speakers for 2007-2008 include Paul Levy, Marcia Angel, Jaquelin Sherris, Ezekial Emanuel, and Donald Berwick.
Past Lectures
2006-2007
- The first Tosteson Lecture of the year was delivered in September by Dr. Elliott Fisher of Dartmouth Medical School, on the topic of "Health Care Spending and Quality: The Paradox of Plenty," and drew over 50 students to TMEC Room 209.
- The second Tosteson Lecture of the year was delivered in October by Cleve Killingsworth, President of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, on "Collaboration and Transformation" in health care, concerning the potential for health insurers and physicians - working together - to influence change within the US health care system. His talk drew over 60 students to TMEC Room 250.
- The third Tosteson Lecture of the year was delivered in January by Francois De Brantes, National Coordinator of Bridges to Excellence, on the topic of "Rewarding Quality across the Healthcare System." His talk drew over 40 students to the Cannon Room.
- The fourth Tosteson Lecture of the year was delivered in March by Dr. Karen Davis, President of The Commonwealth Fund, providing an excellent overview of the problems facing the US healthcare system and how they may be overcome, attracting over 40 students to TMEC Room 209.
- The fifth Tosteson Lecture of the year was delivered in April by Dr. Atul Gawande of the Brigham and Women's Hospital, on the content covered in his new book, "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance." His talk drew over 100 students to the Carl W. Walter Amphitheater.
2005-2006
- Jonathan Gruber, PhD - "What to Do About the Uninsured?"
- David Cutler, PhD - "Money and Medicine"
- Anthony Fauci, MD - "The Threat of Avian Influenza and Other Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Research Agenda"
- John W. Rowe, MD - "Value-Based Purchasing (Pay for Performance): An Emerging Trend in Health Care"
- Newt Gingrich - "Saving Lives and Saving Money NOW"
- Robert Galvin, MD - "Improving Healthcare: The Employer's View"
- Julius Richmond MD and Rashi Fein PhD - "The Authors Present: The Health Care Mess: How We Got Into It and What It Will Take To Get Out"
2004-2005
- Robert Blendon, ScD - "Health Care in the 2004 Election"
- Megan Sandel, MD - "Asthma in Families' Lives: A Primary Care Pediatric Perspective"
- John McDonough, DrPH, MPA - "Health Care for All"
- Atul Gawande, MD, MPH - "A Discussion on the Teri Schiavo Case"
- Charlie Clements, MD, MPH - "By Means of Water"
2003-2004
- Michael Dukakis - "Challenges in Health Policy"
- Robert Blendon, ScD - "Health Care in the 2004 Election"
- Niteesh Choudhry, MD, Ciaran Kelly, MD, and Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD - "Health Care Lessons From Abroad: International Doctors Compare Experiences"
- Thomas Gutheil, MD - "How Not To Get Sued: A Look Inside Medical Malpractice"
- Mark Montigny - "Current State Health Policy Issues: Q&A With a Legislator"
- Jerry Avorn, MD - "Drugs, Docs, and Detailing: What shapes doctors' prescribing practices, and what can be done about it?"
- Jeff Sachs, PhD - "The Health Impacts of Globalization"
- David Hemenway, PhD - "Private Guns, Public Health."
- Katherine Swartz, PhD - "An Overview of the American Health Care System"
2002-2003
- David Satcher, MD, PhD, Former US Surgeon General - Keynote Address
- Rashi Fein, PhD - "National Health Insurance: Past, Present, Future"
- Colleen Barry, PhD - "Politics of Health Care Reform: The Clinton Plan and Beyond."
- Peter Barton Hutt - "FDA Regulation of Biotechnology and Its Impact on the Practice of Medicine"
- Steven Flier, MD and Martin Solomon, MD - "Boutique Care-For and Against: A Two Part Series"
- Troy Brennan, MD, JD, MPH - "Medical Error and Malpractice Litigation"
- Peter Slavin, MD, MBA - "The Physician Manager: Challenges of Leading an Academic Health Center"
- Harris Berman, MD - "The Evolution of Health Insurance in America"
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