The First Annual Improvement Science Summit

The Way Forward

Date: July 7, 2010
Location: The Hyatt Regency Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, TX

The first Improvement Science Summit set the course for the NIH-funded nationwide research network. This one-day, pioneering event was the premier forum for improvement science, focusing on theory, research methodology, and evaluation approaches. Participants learned about research methods in this emerging field and how to create, conduct, and assess improvement studies. Directed by visionary leaders, participants had opportunities to collaborate and engage in multi-site improvement research projects focused on nationally identified research priorities. Discussion of the overlapping paradigms of improvement science, translational science, and implementation science helped establish ‘the way forward’ in this developing field.

Summit Agenda (PDF)
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Presentation Recordings

The Improvement Science Research Network: Launching the Future Today
Presentation by Dr. Kathleen R. Stevens, EdD, MS, RN, ANEF, FAAN

• Patient safety and quality improvement are clearly stated national priorities. However, there are still challenges to be overcome, as seen in the reports To Err is Human, and Crossing the Quality Chasm
• The Improvement Science Research Network, an NIH-funded “Grand Opportunities” (GO) grant, aims to accelerate the development and dissemination of inter-professional improvement science in a systems and micro-systems context across multiple hospital sites
• Progress to date in the ISRN
• The ISRN will share information and promote engagement in improvement science

The Promise of Improvement Science
Presentation by Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, MD

• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is the leading funder of research, including evidence-based applications, that aims to improve health care. There has been a recent increase in research focusing on prevention of health care infections
• AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program
• The Keystone Project: AHRQ-funded project at Johns Hopkins University and eventually expanded to 1500 lives and saved $200 million
• MONAHRQ: My Own Network, Powered by AHRQ
• New Responsibilities for AHRQ under Health Reform: Delivery System Research