The ABMS Research and Education Foundation is engaged in a number of dynamic and interesting programs that go to the heart of improving physician performance, protecting patient safety and setting higher standards to achieve better care. The Foundation funds its programs through grants it receives, some limited grant-making as well as sponsored research agreements.

IPIP: Improving Performance in Practice

Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) is a state-based, nationally led quality improvement initiative funded in large part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Its origins are in collaboration among the primary care specialty societies to help physicians improve care in the office practice setting.  A key feature of IPIP is the use of quality improvement coaches (QICs) who go into physicians’ offices and work closely with the entire practice team on improvement efforts. 

QICs focus on 5 key areas that help practices provide better care for patients with chronic conditions:
1.   Use a Registry to identify patients with diabetes/asthma prior to the visit
2.   Use a condition-specific decision support tool (e.g., a visit planner)
3.   Create a customized flow diagram and protocols to standardize the care process:

• Use nursing standing orders to increase reliable execution
• Use a standard protocol
• Assign specific care team roles (who does what in the protocol)

4.   Conduct frequent monitoring of protocol use
5.   Educate patients in self-management and support their efforts

IPIP was piloted in Colorado and North Carolina.  Using data and feedback from participating physicians, QICs and national/international quality experts, IPIP will be enhanced to include the Learning Collaborative model.  This model brings care teams from physician practices together in learning sessions to review data, share best practices and plan action steps.  The Collaborative features pre-work and post-work to integrate the learning into practice, resulting in improved process and outcomes.  The national IPIP team, led by Sheldon Horowitz, MD, Special Advisor to the President of ABMS and Peter Margolis, MD, PhD, Director of the National Center for Design, Development and Evaluation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, provides project management as well as data aggregation and analysis to support the collaboratives in each state. IPIP has spread to more practices in the initial two states and to five additional states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin.

Alignment is a central strategy.  IPIP seeks to align with other national Quality Improvement initiatives and measures, such as the Medical Home projects, NCQA’s Physician Practice Connection, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Aligning Forces for Quality Initiative, and others.   Participation in IPIP will help physicians to complete the requirements for Part IV of Maintenance of Certification.  It also positions them well to take part in Pay-for-Performance programs offered by insurers. 

Ultimately, IPIP strives to improve outcomes for patients with diabetes, asthma and other chronic conditions.  Through the use of QI methods, such as the PDSA cycle, practices engage in redesign activities that create efficiencies and improve care.

For more information, contact Jan Simon, Program Director.

Patient Safety Improvement Program Focuses on Safety and Quality Improvement

The ABMS Patient Safety Improvement Program is a Web-based tool for Physicians to learn essential patient safety skills and quality improvement fundamentals. The program includes four key components:

1. Engaging patient safety scenarios every physician can relate to and use
2. Comprehensive patient safety curriculum covering the core topics of epidemiology of patient safety and medical error
3. Quality improvement fundamentals for applying methods and techniques to improve patient safety
4. Patient safety improvement activities introducing changes that can be incorporated into practice

By integrating this module with local patient safety efforts, physicians will be able to demonstrate to the public, their patients and their colleagues — as well as their Member Boards — that they are deeply committed to assessing the safety of the care they deliver, and taking critical steps to improve it further.

The ABMS Patient Safety Improvement Program was guided by an advisory committee of nationally recognized subject matter experts in patient safety and quality improvement.

Development of CAHPS Surveys Underway

To assist physicians in becoming more cognizant of their communication skills, ABMS and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Consortium are developing a method to deliver the CAHPS Clinician-Groups Survey to the 24 ABMS Member Boards as a way to fulfill some of the Part IV Practice Performance Assessment requirements of ABMS Maintenance of Certification.

The survey is the primary collection instrument of CAHPS data which will be submitted to the National CAHPS Benchmarking Database for warehousing and analysis. Survey results will be reported to the Member Boards and their certified physicians to help them improve communication with patients in their practice.

This initiative is an important step toward fulfilling the ABMS strategic goals and further demonstrates the commitment to improving the quality of care.