Harkness Project Title: Mapping Quality Improvement: A Comparative Study of Health Care Organizations

Mentors: Brian Mittman, Ph.D., and Lisa Rubenstein, M.D.

Placement: VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare Systems, and RAND Corporation

Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Robbie Foy, a 2006–07 Harkness/Health Foundation Fellow in Health Care Policy, is a general practitioner and clinical senior lecturer in primary care at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. After completing training in general practice and public health medicine (MRCGP, MFPHM), he undertook a Medical Research Council/Scottish Executive Health Department training fellowship in health services research while linked to the Scottish Program for Clinical Effectiveness in Reproductive Health. His research focuses on understanding and closing the gap between best evidence and routine practice. He is associate editor of the BioMed Central journal Implementation Science, chair of the scientific committee of the U.K. Society for Behavioral Medicine and has been a visiting fellow at the Norwegian Health Services Research Centre. Foy obtained his medical degree and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh and his master's in public health and epidemiology from the University of Manchester.

Project: Foy’s overall objective was to develop a multi-level framework for health care quality improvement – coordinated across all levels of the health system – and also to document the extent and intensity of quality improvement efforts in the U.S. and U.K.  He studied two U.S. health systems (Veteran’s Health Administration and HealthPartners of Minnesota), where he conducted interviews with a range of stakeholders, supplemented by a literature review and document analysis.  He particularly focused on efforts to improve care for clinical depression. 

Career Activity Since Fellowship

• Professor of Primary Care, Leeds University, 2008

Current Position: Professor of Primary Care, Leeds University. (Updated August 2010).

E-mail: r.foy@leeds.ac.uk

Harkness-Related Publications

Foy R, Hempel S, Rubenstein L, Suttorp M, Seelig M, Shanman R, Shekelle PG. “Meta-analysis: Effect of Interactive Communication Between Collaborating Primary Care Physicians and Specialists.” Ann Intern Med. 2010; 152: 247-258.

Foy R. 'Cracking the system." British Journal of General P ractice Back Pages 2008;578:734-5.

Foy R. "Life under liberty." BMJ 2007;335:349.