Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is partnering with the American Medical Association and The Joint Commission to create a learning network to help health systems conduct more equitable quality and patient safety work, the organizations said May 19.
The Advancing Equity through Quality and Safety Peer Network entails a yearlong mentorship and networking program in which participating health systems will learn strategies to systematically identify and address root causes of inequities via an integrated approach to quality, safety, equity and operations.
Eight healthcare organizations will pilot the program:
- Atlantic Medical Group/Atlantic Health (Morristown, N.J.)
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston)
- University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (Iowa City)
- Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston)
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.)
- University of Wisconsin Hospitals & Clinics (Madison)
Part of the program entails use of a framework designed by Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to reduce health inequities within clinical operations.
"We are thrilled that the Peer Network represents the first phase of amplifying this approach measuring the impact of racial justice and equity nationally by testing it with a group of early adopter institutions," Sonali Desai, MD, Brigham's interim chief quality officer, said in a news release. "It's so important to empower healthcare providers and health systems to dismantle structural racism and additional intersecting systems of oppression."