For Immediate Release

ASQ & Society for Health Systems Announce Joint Conference

Alliance Aims to Build Better Healthcare Delivery Systems

Milwaukee, Wis., June 6, 2009 — ASQ’s (American Society for Quality) Healthcare and Quality Management divisions and The Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and its Society for Health Systems (SHS), and, will launch a joint conference focused on healthcare quality and process improvement. The new joint conference will be held February 25–28, 2010, in Atlanta, Ga.

The conference will bring together healthcare quality professionals, performance improvement specialists and other healthcare professionals involved with or interested in developing the quality and operations improvement skills and knowledge needed to successfully manage complex healthcare environments. 

“This is a tremendous advancement for the industry and a great opportunity for the members of both societies,” said Pierce Story, president of SHS and managing director at Jumbee, Inc. “This powerful alliance will foster and strengthen the natural synergies between performance improvement and quality management, thus enabling a more effective and efficient healthcare system.” 

Both organizations will co-chair this event, which will offer a combination of high quality education sessions, daily workshops and an opportunity to network with well-respected and knowledgeable process and quality improvement experts from throughout the United States.

“We believe that this joint conference is a bold step toward significantly impacting the health and well-being of our communities and hope this alliance will spur additional intra-industry cooperation and synergies, as we all strive to build a better healthcare delivery system,” said Dr. James Levett, ASQ Healthcare Division chair. 

SHS, www.shsweb.org, a society within the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), is the largest professional association focused on the needs and advancement of healthcare performance improvement professionals and concepts. SHS exists to enhance the career development and continuing education of professionals who use industrial and management engineering expertise for productivity and quality improvement in the healthcare industry. SHS offers its members the latest in process analytics, tools, techniques and methodologies through its training, conferences, publications and member interaction. IIE, www.iienet.org, is the world’s largest professional society dedicated solely to the support of the industrial engineering profession and individuals involved with improving quality and productivity.

“We are excited to announce this important alliance; and we are convinced the conference will help attendees gain the knowledge they need to successfully lead the transformation of health systems,” said Don Greene, IIE’s executive director.

ASQ, 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 sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.