Contact:
Christel Henke
414-332-2933
chenke@hansondodge.com

For Immediate Release

2009 ASQ Quality Institute for Healthcare Explores Building Better Performance Delivery Systems

Conference to Also Take Public Health Focus

Milwaukee, Wis., February 3, 2009 — Improving healthcare delivery performance is the theme of the 2009 Quality Institute for Healthcare (QIHC), May 18–20, 2009, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, Minn. The conference, hosted by the American Society for Quality (ASQ), will focus on developing adoptable and sustainable improvement models for application in care delivery business units as well as at the organizational and community level.

QIHC welcomes all healthcare leaders and quality practitioners—from administrators and managers to clinical directors—who are interested in developing the quality improvement skills and knowledge needed to successfully manage a complex healthcare environment. The three-day event will showcase advances in the use of systems engineering tools and methods with in-depth, hands-on learning opportunities offered in an interactive classroom setting. Real world applications and results-driven case presentations will help clinicians deliver care that is safer, more efficient, timely and accessible to more people.

Healthcare quality leaders and experts from around the country will direct daily hands-on workshops on the latest healthcare quality improvement methods. Some of the workshop topics include:

• Back to Basics: Infrastructure for Improving Care — Rosalie Vlahutin of Allina Hospitals and Clinics, St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn.
• Using Aviation’s Crew Resource Management and Other Tools to Reduce Errors in Healthcare — Richard C. Karl, MD, CEO and Founder of Surgical Safety Institute, Tampa, Fla.           
• Implementing Baldrige Best Practices — Glenn W. Bodinson, BaldrigeCoach, Richardson, Texas
• Never Events: You Break It, You Buy It — Heather Vass, MHA, SSGB Premier Incorporated, Charlotte, N.C.
• Clinical Six Sigma in Outpatient Medicine: Achieving "Best in the Nation" Hypertension Results — Robert E. Matthews, PriMed Physicians & Health First Physicians, Dayton, Ohio

Public Health Track
This year’s QIHC includes a new public health track packed with information and workshops vital to anyone working in the public health field. Sessions include:

• Quality Improvement in Public Health: Introduction and Concept — Department of Family Health and Rural Health, Florida State University College of Medicine
• Improvement Tools for Public Health — Minnesota Department of Public Health
• Community Healthcare and Public Health Initiatives — Expert Panel Discussion
• Case Study: Combining Community, ASQ and Public Health — Grace L. Duffy, President, Management and Performance Systems

Participants attending this year’s QIHC will also have access to other select sessions and activities of the annual ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement, which will be held concurrently with QIHC. Attendees are invited to enjoy high-profile keynote speakers from that conference, including:

• Starbucks North America and Starbucks International former president Howard Behar, who will discuss his leadership principles and work directing corporate quality initiatives for this major consumer brand.
• Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. co-founder Jerry Greenfield, who will provide insight into how social responsibility and creative management helped create a $300 million ice cream empire.

To learn more and to register for the Quality Institute for Healthcare, please visit http://qihc.asq.org.

The American Society for Quality, www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.