Vice-Chair, Quality & Innovation

“Everyone in healthcare really has two jobs when they come to work every day: to do their work and to improve it.” Dr. Paul Batalden, the co-founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, wrote this in an editorial in 2007.

Kaveh Shojania Two years later, a commentary in JAMA by two members of the Department of Medicine called attention to the emergence of a distinct new career pathway among faculty members, namely those engaged in the improvement of clinical settings in which they work i.e., clinicians focused on healthcare quality improvement (QI). In 2016, the department had over 30 faculty members whose major academic activity consists of quality improvement, in addition to clinicians in other job descriptions who also contribute to improving the quality of care.

The department’s activities related to quality improvement fall into three main categories: education and training in quality improvement , led by Dr. Brian Wong,  consultation and support services for faculty in any job description interested in doing QI projects, led by Dr. Edward Etchells, and research in new models of care, with many members of the department playing lead roles in:

• The University of Toronto (U of T) Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (C-QuIPS), an extra-departmental unit supported by the Faculty of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences and the Hospital for Sick Children;
• The Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV);
• OpenLab, a design and innovation shop at University Health Network (UHN) dedicated to finding creative solutions that transform healthcare delivery;
• Choosing Wisely Canada, part of an international campaign to reduce overuse of non-beneficial tests and treatments;
• The Joint Program in Knowledge Translation, a collaborative effort between St. Michael’s Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine;
• The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

The Department’s Vice-Chair, Quality & Innovation, Dr. Kaveh Shojania, is also the editor-in-chief of BMJ Quality & Safety.

The educational opportunities for trainees and faculty members available through the department warrant particular note as few institutions offer even a single such program, nevermind so many.

• The master's concentration in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety , run through the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, now receives over 100 applications a year for 25-30 spots;
• Faculty resident Co-Learning Curriculum in Quality Improvement [KS4]  - a longitudinal program in which trainees in the department learn about QI and carry out a project alongside faculty members from the same division;
• a longitudinal certificate course run through CQuIPS;
• the US Veteran Affairs Quality Scholars (VAQS) program.

For more information about Kaveh Shojania, Vice-Chair, Quality and Innovation, his biographical sketch is available here.