ABMS Research and Education Foundation Receives $2.5 Million Grant to Continue National Improving Performance in Practice Program for Physicians

Rob Nelson, ABMS Research and Education Foundation Executive Director along with Jan Simon, Program Director and IPIP Principal Investigator, Sheldon Horowitz, MD proudly announce the receipt of the new grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

EVANSTON, Ill. - Mar. 21, 2007 - The American Board of Medical Specialties Research and Education Foundation announced today that it has been awarded a two-year, $2.5 million grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support a third phase of the Improving Performance In Practice (IPIP) quality care program. Developed by several leading physician organizations, IPIP represents the first large-scale, state-based effort to engage small physician practices in quality improvement. The new grant funds expansion of IPIP processes into more practices, including two additional states, to begin creating nationwide networks for future program growth.

Although most Americans receive their medical care in small physician office practices, efforts to improve the quality of patient care in physicians’ offices have mostly occurred at the large group practice level. Moreover, the RAND Corporation has reported that patients receive only 55 percent of recommended care, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or income. Through IPIP, primary care physicians and their care teams will be given the tools, systems and support they need to close the gap between current care and target care, using nationally recognized measures, so their patients will have better outcomes for chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma. IPIP is currently being piloted in Colorado and North Carolina and involves an estimated 256,000 patients across 55 physician practices.

“The program is aimed at cultivating a culture for quality and uses technology to track improvement and to create sustainable change. It also enables physicians to meet the professional requirements of their specialty boards for maintenance of certification and that of pay-for-performance by insurers,” explained Sheldon Horowitz, MD, principal investigator for IPIP.

Guided by a national steering committee that includes quality improvement experts, leaders of primary care specialties and state-based quality improvement organizations, the program partners include the National Center for Design, Development and Evaluation at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative (CCGC), the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. ABMS Research and Education Foundation serves as the convening organization for IPIP, providing program management and business leadership support.

“There has been remarkable interest and enthusiasm from physicians, state government, employers, and other organizations engaged in quality improvement initiatives,” said Marjie Harbrecht, MD, CCGC medical director. “IPIP is an excellent vehicle to identify and evaluate the problems in our system and provide essential support to the healthcare teams trying to remedy the problems.”

The IPIP model features Quality Improvement Coaches who guide physicians and their staffs using a system of “Plan, Do, Study and Act” or PDSA to implement and document quality improvement tactics. Physicians also receive change packages, learning modules, collaborative education sessions and registries to facilitate their efforts. Data from all these activities are aggregated on an extranet Web site and analyzed on a monthly basis by quality improvement experts who initiate reports identifying trends and progress status toward goals.

IPIP has gained nationwide attention for achieving unprecedented collaboration at the state and local level with a program of its type. “In North Carolina, IPIP has catalyzed a Governor's Quality Initiative to improve the quality of care in all primary care practices across the state,” explained Warren Newton, MD, MPH, chair of the North Carolina IPIP Steering Committee. “With the leadership of the Governor, this major new initiative features support from North Carolina Area Health Education Centers, Community Care of North Carolina, and the Division of Public Health as well as the primary care specialty societies, the Peer Review Organization, Medicaid and the major commercial insurers. Our goal has been to bring everyone to the table to improve quality of care; over $6 million have been committed so far to the initiative.”

Robert G. Nelson, Executive Director ABMS Research and Education Foundation added, “We are very pleased with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s ongoing and generous support of this important quality initiative. With the new grant the ABMS Research and Education Foundation can continue to provide programmatic support for this groundbreaking national collaboration promoting higher standards, better care and the implementation of physician maintenance of certification.”

About the ABMS Research and Education Foundation
The American Board of Medical Specialties Research and Education Foundation is a not-for profit charitable organization under Internal Revenue Code section 501c (3) and is affiliated with the American Board of Medical Specialties. Its mission is to support the scientific, scholarly and public education mission, purposes and goals of ABMS to improve healthcare quality. This involves actively initiating, engaging in, convening and supporting activities with other organizations concerned with the quality of physicians and medical care and with the development of professional and educational standards for certifying physician specialists. The Foundation offers program management, education and research capabilities and services. For more information, visit www.abms.org.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and healthcare issues facing our country. As the nations largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and healthcare of all Americans, the Foundation works with a group of diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solution and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect health and healthcare of those it serves. When in comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.