As 2010 draws to an end, and the HITECH Act goes into effect in 2011, many sites are still struggling with the concept of “meaningful use”, patient centered medical home, healthcare reform, and how they will manage their patient care responsibilities, the required reporting and documentation of clinical quality improvement (CQI), along with their fiduciary responsibilities.

The Clinical Quality Improvement Collaborative (CQIC) has been focusing on teaching the concepts of CQI and working with member sites to implement and report on a variety of CQI projects in multiple specialties. We have stayed current with the latest quality metrics and requirements from various agencies, being active in the various national workgroups redefining quality healthcare measures.

This year’s three-day summit will focus on summarizing what we have learned; the successes, the lessons learned, and how to overcome the biggest obstacle to clinical quality improvement - time!

We will be returning to our traditional format of didactic presentation sessions in the morning of days 1 and 2. After lunch on days 1 and 2, various workgroups will meet with assigned faculty/facilitators to identify and work on specific CQI projects. We will reconvene as a group the evening of Day 2 for a dinner meeting that will include brief presentations by each workgroup followed by an evening of fun and entertainment. Day 3 will be a combination of didactic presentations and brainstorming by the entire group to identify areas for further improvement moving forward.