Joint Commission Leaders Call on Physicians to Embrace Quality Improvement

In a May 12 JAMA “Viewpoint” article, Mark Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, The Joint Commission’s president and CEO, and David Baker, MD, FACP, MPH, The Joint Commission’s vice president for healthcare quality evaluation, called on American physicians to acquire the necessary skills to take on new responsibilities to become leaders for QI and patient safety in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.¹

The Joint Commission, they said, has embraced the tools, methods, and science of QI used in other industries, including Lean Six Sigma and change management, for all of its internal improvement functions and for its Center for Transforming Healthcare. They urge physicians to do the same or risk jeopardizing medicine’s long-standing self-governance status because of societal concerns about patient safety.

Drs. Chassin and Baker note that medicine has too often tolerated problematic behaviors and is viewed by some stakeholders as failing to address poor quality of care and safety, lack of access, and high costs of care.

“Physicians could make a much stronger case for continued self-government if they took a more visible and vigorous leadership role in efforts that led to major improvement in the quality and safety of patient care,” they said.

Reference

1. Chassin MR, Baker DW. Aiming higher to enhance professionalism: beyond accreditation and certification. JAMA. 2015;313(18):1795-1796.