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The Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHQI) is pleased to announce that six projects will be supported through IHQI’s Improvement Scholars Program for the period Sept. 1, 2020 – Aug. 31, 2021.


The Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHQI) is pleased to announce that six projects will be supported through IHQI’s Improvement Scholars Program for the period Sept. 1, 2020 – Aug. 31, 2021.

The Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHQI) is pleased to announce that six projects will be supported through IHQI’s Improvement Scholars Program for the period Sept. 1, 2020 – Aug. 31, 2021. Please join us in extending congratulations to the selected project leads:

Renae Boerneke, PharmD, BCPS, CPP and Mildred Kwan, MD PhD – Reducing the Healthcare Utilization of Broad Spectrum Antibiotics: Implementation of Outpatient Penicillin Allergy Assessments

Amy Durr, MSN, RN, FNP-BC and Subhashini Sellers, MD MSCR – Improving COPD Care for People Living with HIV Infection

Benjamin Mervak, MD, CIIP – Improving Radiologic Communication and Follow-up: Implementing and Increasing Participation in an Epic-Based Communication and Tracking Tool

Clare Mock, MD CPPS – Optimizing the Care of Patients with Tricuspid Valve Endocarditis Related to Intravenous Drug Abuse through Interdepartmental and Interhospital Collaboration

Lauren Raff, MD FACS and Evan Raff, MD – Building High-Performance Team Dynamics for Rapid Responses: A Model for Sustainable Process Change and Improved Patient Outcomes

Stephanie Schwartz, MD and Tracie Walker, MD – Preventing, Recognizing and Managing Delirium in Critically Ill Children

Projects were selected after a rigorous review of 15 letters of intent and 11 full proposals. Selection factors include:

  • likelihood of improvement in clinical care and outcomes that can be sustained and spread;
  • potential for developing clinician capacity to lead healthcare improvement;
  • project’s impact on reducing waste and/or cost; and
  • appropriateness of the improvement strategy.

The purpose of the Improvement Scholars program is to develop clinical improvement leaders who will ultimately mentor others to improve care and outcomes. IHQI provides training, mentorship, and guidance as well as half-time support of an improvement project manager.

The Improvement Scholars Program is an experiential-learning program that incorporates the following:

  • Lean and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Quality Improvement
  • Partnering with Patients and Families
  • Project Management
  • Teamwork (TeamSTEPPS)
  • High- and Low-Fidelity Simulation
  • Statistical Process Control
  • Presenting and Publishing Improvement Results

The UNC Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement’s mission is to catalyze healthcare improvement, spread, and culture change by engaging providers in improvement projects, training, and research.