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The Hamad Medical Corporation will sponsor a number of its employees to study online at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School as part of the organisation’s commitment to update staff skills and deliver quality patient care. |
The IHI Open School provides students of medicine, nursing, public health, pharmacy, health administration, dentistry, and other allied health professions with the opportunity to learn about quality improvement and patient safety.
HMC managing director Hanan al-Kuwari said the IHI is recognised as one of the international leaders in healthcare improvement and innovation and the collaboration between the two organisations would reap real benefits for patients.
“The IHI’s passionate belief that everyone should receive the best care fuels their mission to improve health and healthcare. HMC staff will be given free access to the IHI’s Open School – an excellent online resource which will continue our learning opportunities long after the forum,” the official said.
She said that sessions held over the three days of the forum and the Open School would provide the corporation with many great ideas.
“Staff should feel empowered to improve patient care and to use what we’ve learned here for the immediate benefit of our patients,” al-Kuwari said.
The Open School was launched in 2008 with objective of fostering importance of quality improvement and safety.
More than 110,000 individuals have completed at least one course and more than16,000 individuals have completed the basic certificate.
Currently the Open School has more than 135,000 students.
Medical, Academic and Research Affairs for Medical Education deputy chief Dr Abdullatif al-Khal said the Open School was an opportunity for the corporation’s front line clinical staff to further explore new ways to improve patient care.
“This collaboration will give HMC staff direct access to IHI’s exceptional faculty and methodologies which they have developed over the last 25 years,” he said adding: “HMC believes this is a very valuable resource for staff members. We are keen to see all staff engage in improvement science that promotes patient safety.”
Kedar Mate MD, a member of the IHI Faculty and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in the US, said: “The Open School is our way of continuing the learning. It provides an opportunity for a deeper understanding of what was covered during the sessions. This school encourages practice, or the implementation, of what has been gleaned during the sessions. The sessions are designed to change the way organisations think about the science of improvement and the school provides the tools to implement this new thinking.”
Mate added: “This conference forms the base of understanding, the building of a common baseline of knowledge. The Open School is part of our plan to build a culture that understands the importance of safety and quality improvement; together we are growing real expertise that will lead HMC into a bold new future.”
Hamad General Hospital Trauma consultant Dr Hussam Abdel Rahman said the forum was an opportunity to learn from experts how to improve healthcare through measurements, through continuous education, and through collaboration with leading organisations in the world like the IHI.
“The new idea of Open School and continuous education with online courses provides a great opportunity for all the staff to improve their knowledge and expertise in regard to patient care and patient safety, which I think is a must and has become the cornerstone of healthcare,” he said.
A nurse from the Paediatric Emergency Centre in Al Sadd said the programme helped improve their knowledge, particularly on how to work with patients, the family, the hospital and the community in order to improve patient safety.
