The first four IHI Open School quality improvement courses taught you basic improvement methodology, which you can apply to improve health care processes and make care safer. But when you assume a leadership role in a clinical improvement project, you’ll…
In this course, we’ll take you through basic concepts you need to know to run successful PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles in a clinical setting. First, we’ll teach you how to plan and conduct a small scale tests of change. We’ll discuss…
The goal of every health care provider and organization is to provide safe, timely, equitable, effective, efficient, and patient-centered care. But how can that hopeful statement become a reality? Explore this suite of courses to learn how to apply the science of improvement – which includes aims, measures, and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles – to make positive changes within the systems in your local setting. You’ll also learn about the psychology of change, and why introducing new ideas and processes often take time, patience, and creativity.
Serious errors occur at the best hospitals and clinics — despite the best efforts of talented and dedicated providers. As the Institute of Medicine (IOM) declared in 2001, in words that still ring true, “Between the health care we have…
As long as human beings provide health care, mistakes and errors will occur. However, organizations can reduce the likelihood of such mistakes and errors and limit their impact by fostering a culture of safety. This is an environment that encourages…
In this course, we’re going to describe and advocate a patient-centered approach to use when things go wrong. This approach to adverse events and medical error centers on the needs of the patient, but it is also the best way…
This course introduces students to a systematic response to error called root cause analysis (RCA). The goal of RCA is to learn from adverse events and prevent them from happening in the future. The three lessons in this course explain…
Effective teamwork and communication are critical parts of the design of safe systems. In this course, you’ll learn what makes an effective team through case studies from health care and elsewhere. You’ll analyze the effects of individual behavior for promoting…
This course is an introduction to the field of human factors: how to incorporate knowledge of human behavior in the design of safe systems. You’ll explore case studies to analyze the human factors issues involved in health care situations. And…
As long as humans are practicing health care, mistakes and harm will be part of our daily work. But how can you mitigate the mistakes you make? And why do we make errors in the first place? The suite of courses will introduce you to the fundamentals of patient safety, and explain why to err is human. You’ll dive into content about teamwork and communication, explore root cause analysis and the aftermath of adverse events, and discover the critical components comprising a culture of safety.
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