I was honored to present the 2010 Mungerson Lecture at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center today. The lecture is named for Gerald Mungerson, an inspiring leader and a passionate advocate for the health and wellness of the communities he served. This included Boston, where, prior to going to Chicago, he served with distinction as General Director of what is today is part of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. (You see his son, Andy, and wife, Cynthia, in the accompanying picture.)As explained to me by Susan Nordstrom Lopez, President, "Each year we select the Mungerson lecturer on the basis of his or her dedication to health care and record in improving a health institution, practice or community. Like Jerry, the Mungerson Lecture balances clinical rigor with the critical need to involve lay people in understanding, supporting and improving health care."
I was asked to expand on a topic covered on this blog, "On Purpose," with a particular emphasis on the role of quality, safety, transparency, process improvement, and patient involvement in the new health care environment. Of course, this was a bit like preaching to the choir, as Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center does an excellent job on these fronts. Their commitment to transparency is exemplified in these posters on the various floors of the hospital, where staff, patient, and visitors can see progress on a variety of indicators and metrics.
The challenge for all involved in the "new health care environment" will be to maintain that sense of purpose in the face of overwhelming pressures caused by an inevitably chaotic transition to a new paradigm. Hopefully improvement initiatives will not be the first to be jettisoned as financial and other obstacles mount; in the past hospital leaders have shown such a tendency (nationally, that is).
ReplyDeleteOrganized, sustained and meaningful patient involvement will be crucial to assist us in keeping our eye on the goal, so simply stated by BIDMC's purpose: “To treat patients and their families as we would want members of our own family treated”.
nonlocal MD