Infectious diseases physicians impact the quality of health care and outcomes both at a patient’s bedside and through their infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship activities focused on improving quality at the systems level. ID physicians, pharmacists and other clinicians are integrally involved in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives in hospitals and other settings. IDSA supports these efforts with resources, references and collaborative activities.
Watch the first session of our webinar series on Quality Improvement Methods for ID. Dr. Theresa Madeline, Associate Chief Quality Officer at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University reviews various methodologies, their relation to traditional scientific methods, and the importance of QI in ID and during public health emergencies.
Learn more about the webinar series on our IDSA Offerings page.
Measurement is an essential aspect of quality and improvement. ID physicians, pharmacists and clinicians use data and metrics daily in care of individual patients and in supporting organization-wide patient safety initiatives.
Federal and national programs, including value-based purchasing, have incorporated infection-related measures in public reporting programs of outcomes and provider performance.
Improvement science provides methods and tools for analyzing processes to identify opportunities, testing changes to learn what works or does not, and implementing systemic and procedural changes. ID physicians, pharmacists and clinicians can leverage these evidence-based tools to drive measurable improvements to the quality of care.
