A Win for ASQ’s Advocacy Efforts—
National Health IT Coordinator Seeks Out ASQ Advice
In another advancement of the Society’s advocacy efforts related to healthcare reform, ASQ representatives met in Washington, D.C., on November 3 with the individuals responsible for implementing major change in the nation’s health information technology systems. The outcome was a request for ASQ to assist in this effort.
The meeting was held with Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and senior members of his staff and advisors to explore areas where ASQ can collaborate in this important work. The meeting was held at Dr. Blumenthal’s office at the Department of Health and Human Services.…
ASQ had earlier submitted comments on certain aspects of health IT to Dr. Blumenthal’s office and had indicated its willingness to assist the office in accomplishing its mission. Subsequent contacts with Dr. Blumenthal’s office by ASQ’s Washington consultants, Sellery Associates, resulted in the invitation to meet and explore areas of collaboration.
Dr. Blumenthal and his Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) are leading the nationwide effort to modernize health IT—with a goal of reducing health costs for the federal government by $12 billion over ten years.
ASQ President Pete Andres called the high-level meeting a significant strategic step for ASQ. “ASQ’s knowledge and experience can help pave the way for successful implementation of upgrades to our national health IT infrastructure,” he said.
Dr. Blumenthal expressed genuine interest in determining how ASQ can partner with ONC at the national level and in its planned community-level activities. He asked for ASQ comments on a matrix of competencies for several job functions within a healthcare IT work force and assistance on developing a performance framework for health IT. ASQ also will provide examples of cost savings for small physician practices using quality methodologies. ONC additionally is interested in learning more about the applicability of Baldrige to physician practices and about evidence for return on investment for process redesign in health IT.
“It was very encouraging to see that this high-level group at ONC is very savvy about quality and Baldrige,” said Doug Sears, director of performance improvement and knowledge transfer at Bon Secours Health System, who was part of the ASQ delegation.
Also representing ASQ at the meeting were Joe Fortuna, M.D., of the ASQ Healthcare Division, Michelle Mason, ASQ managing director, and Bill Sellery and Amy Kohler of Sellery Associates.
