Introducing Lori Melichar and her INQRI Panel...

At our upcoming meeting, Lori Melichar, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will lead a panel of three INQRI grantees: Linda Costa, Jill Marsteller and Linda Flynn.


Lori is a labor economist and senior program officer in the department of research and evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. During the past four years, she has coordinated the research, evaluation and performance measurement efforts of the Foundation portfolios working to improve the quality of care provided by physicians, nurses and and other health care professionals. Lori is leading the Foundation’s efforts to advance the science of Quality Improvement Research and Evaluation. In addition to serving on the leadership team of the INQRI program, she manages two other programs in the Human Capital Portfolio: Investigators in Health Policy and Health Policy Scholars. She is managing the evaluation of the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, the Foundation’s efforts to transform nursing education in New Jersey and a set of evaluations of quality improvement training programs across the country. Lori is currently serving as the director for research of the RWJF Initiative on the Future of Nursing, at the IOM.

The Panelists:

Linda Costa
Johns Hopkins Hospital
"Nursing-Pharmacy Collaboration on Medication Reconciliation: A Novel Approach to Information Management"

Deficits in communication across the continuum of care in regards to medication use can place patients at serious risk for harm. This interdisciplinary team is examining how to economically support direct care providers in medication reconciliation in order to facilitate safe transition to and from hospital and community. The team is evaluating the effectiveness of a nurse-pharmacist clinical information coordination team in improving drug information management on admission and discharge, quantify potential harm due to reconciliation failures, and determine cost-benefit related to averted harm.

Jill Marsteller
Johns Hopkins University
"Linking Blood Stream Infection Rates to Intensive Care"

The goal of this study was to implement a comprehensive safety program including an evidence based intervention to reduce central line-associated blood stream infections while examining the context of nursing care delivery on patient outcomes. This interdisciplinary research team used the expertise of nurses to develop and deliver a quality improvement initiative that reflects the positive clinical contributions of nurses in the critical care setting. This study should inform other nurse-led medical error reduction interventions, contribute to the quality improvement literature and to the science of rigorously evaluated evidence based interdisciplinary nursing practice.

Linda Flynn
University of Maryland
"Examining the Impact of Nursing Structures and Processes on Medication Errors"

The Institute of Medicine noted that a hospital patient on average is subject to at least one medication error per day, making medication errors the most common cause of preventable adverse events. This interdisciplinary study has been designed to disentangle the effects of nursing structures and care processes on non-intercepted medication errors in acute care hospitals. The economic impact of non-intercepted medication errors will be determined to explore the business case for evidence-based recommendations.

Meet the participants...

As we get closer to the event, we will be profiling the participating organizations. This week, we invite you to learn more about the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, the VA Center for Implementation Practice and Research Support and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Mission: To serve as a catalyst that engages residents and communities in shaping a health system that provides universal access to quality health care and promotes health in Connecticut. We believe that health care is a fundamental right and that our work is part of a broader movement for social and economic justice.

Learn about SustiNet, a new Foundation proposal to control health care costs, save Connecticut’s families and businesses money, and make coverage available to everyone who needs it in the state.

The VA Center for Implementation Practice and Research Support (CIPRS) is a new QUERI resource center that aims to facilitate accelerated improvement in the quality and performance of the VA healthcare delivery system through enhanced VA implementation practice and research. CIPRS programs include education, technical assistance and consultation to VA implementation practitioners and researchers, and development of implementation theory and methods. CIPRS also facilitates better linkages and partnerships between VA implementation researchers and VA clinical practice and policy leaders. CIPRS collaborates with CIDER, HERC and VIReC in assessing and meeting the needs of the VA implementation community.

Mission: To support children, families, and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society.

“We envision a nation that marshals its resources to assure that all children have an equitable and promising future – a nation in which all children thrive.”

An interesting read...

Innovation – The Case for Multi-Level Research

Authors: Brian Leavy and David Jacobson (1998/9).
Irish British and Administrative Research, Vol. 19/20 (1), 16-35.


One of our goals is to keep our meeting participants up to date on the literature in the field relating to translation and adoption. We will be posting articles and providing additional ones at our meeting. We would love to hear from you about articles you would like to see profiled. Email Heather Kelley with your ideas.

Meet the participants...

As we get closer to the event, we will be profiling the participating organizations. This week, we invite you to learn more about Grantmakers in Health, the Health Research Alliance and the John A. Hartford Foundation.

Mission: To foster communication and collaboration among grantmakers and others, and to help strengthen the grantmaking community's knowledge, skills, and effectiveness.

GIH is seeking session proposals for their 2010 Annual Meeting on Health Philanthropy Taking Risks at a Critical Time. The meeting will take place in Orlando, FL on March 10-12 and will explore how grantmakers can sustain their roles as change agents while rethinking strategies, and how grantmakers can be bold, creative, and take risks in how they approach their work and understand their missions. Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, July 1, 2009. Click here for more information.

Mission: To foster collaboration among not-for-profit, non-governmental funders to support the continuum of health research and training from biomedical science to applications that advance health, by improving communication and collaboration:

• Internally, among member organizations, to share data and best practices, informed by current information on the landscape of the health research enterprise; and


• Externally, by encouraging communication and collaboration among grantmakers and the broader health research and policymaking communities.
  

Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of health care training, research and service system innovations that will ensure the well-being and vitality of older adults. Its overall goal is to increase the nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable care to its rapidly increasing older population. Today, the Foundation is America’s leading philanthropy with a sustained interest in aging and health.

Through its grantmaking, the John A. Hartford Foundation seeks specifically to:

• Enhance and expand the training of doctors, nurses, social workers and other health professionals who care for elders, and
• Promote innovations in the integration and delivery of services for all older people.

An interesting read...

Evidence-Based Decision Making: When Should We Wait for More Information?

Authors: Kalipso Chalkldou, Joanne Lord, Alastair Fisher, Peter Littlejohns
Health Affairs, 27(6), 1642-1653.


One of our goals is to keep our meeting participants up to date on the literature in the field relating to translation and adoption. We will be posting articles and providing additional ones at our meeting. We would love to hear from you about articles you would like to see profiled. Email Heather Kelley with your ideas.

Meet the participants...

As we get closer to the event, we will be profiling the participating organizations. This week, we invite you to learn more about the Commonwealth Fund, the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Mission: To promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.

The Commonwealth Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. An international program in health policy is designed to stimulate innovative policies and practices in the United States and other industrialized countries.

Mission: To strategically invest our limited resources to seed innovation, catalyze change, and create model processes that will lead to improvements in health.

The Rippel Foundation seeks to have a direct impact on the incidence and treatment of heart disease and cancer, the quality of health and life for women and the elderly, and the viability of our nation’s hospitals and healthcare delivery system.

Mission: As responsible stewards of the resources entrusted to us, the Foundation forms and invests in partnerships to achieve significant, lasting and measurable results in environmental conservation, science and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Foundation’s science-based, results-driven orientation stems from the principles and interests of Gordon and Betty Moore. The Foundation operates proactively in the three specific areas of focus named in their mission statement—environmental conservation, science, and the San Francisco Bay Area—where a significant and measurable impact can be achieved. Distinct Initiatives have been created within these three Program areas. Each Initiative employs a portfolio of grants that are expected to help achieve targeted, large-scale outcomes in a specific time frame.

Introducing Charles Cutler... one of our keynote speakers

Dr. Charles Cutler was most recently the chief medical director for National Accounts for Aetna where he was responsible for the clinical strategy and clinical sales team that serves Aetna's largest customers. Prior to assuming this role, Dr. Cutler was the national medical director for Quality and Clinical Integration at Aetna, responsible for national quality strategy. He also provides clinical leadership for quality-related programs, such as pay-for-performance and selective provider networks. He serves on Aetna’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force, the NCQA Standards Committee, and the Ambulatory Quality Alliance.

Dr. Cutler was previously the chief medical officer at the American Association of Health Plans (now known as America's Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP) in Washington, DC, where he led national initiatives to improve chronic disease care including partnerships with professional organizations and the development of local partnerships with health plans, medical societies, and public health organizations. He provided clinical and health plan operations guidance to staff responding to and drafting health care legislation on the Federal and State level. At AHIP, he served on Aetna’s external advisory committee on race and ethnic disparities.