IHQI Improvement Scholars Announced

The UNC Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement (IHQI) is pleased to announce six projects will be supported through IHQI’s Improvement Scholars Program for the period September 1, 2018 – Aug 31, 2019.

Implementation of Antibiotic Time-outs at Hillsborough Hospital
UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus
Lead: Zach Willis, MD MPH

Malnutrition in Hospitalized Family Medicine Patients
UNC Medical Center
Lead: Amir Barzin, DO MS

Reducing Fall-Related Fractures in Older Adults
UNC Geriatrics Specialty Clinic
Lead: Meredith Gilliam, MD MPH

Using the EMR for Precision Prescribing and Reducing Unused Opioid Tablets in Postpartum Women
UNC Women’s Hospital
Lead: Christine McKenzie, MD

Reducing Avoidable Gastrointestinal Surgery Readmissions
UNC Medical Center
Leads: Stephanie Lumpkin, MD, Meredith Duke, MD MBA FACS, & Nicole Chaumont, MD

Extending Early Sepsis Recognition and Intervention to the Critical Care and Pre-Hospital Environment
UNC Rex
Leads: Dameion Rutherford, RN CFRN NREMT-P & Francis Castiller, MD

Projects were selected after a rigorous review of 25 proposals. Selection criteria include:

• likelihood of sustainable improvement in clinical care and outcomes in prioritized areas of clinical improvement
• the project’s impact on developing provider capacity to lead healthcare improvement
• the project’s impact on promoting collaboration across units and departments
• clarity 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^TM)
• 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.