Support for learning collaboratives and other proven, team-based approaches to improving care figures prominently in the work of the Health Care Quality Improvement Program. One such collaborative designed by New York City's Primary Care Development Corporation was instrumental in helping the Jerome Belson Health Center in the Bronx provide better, more efficient care to its patients, most of whom have developmental and physical disabilities. Following a redesign of its physical layout and an upgrade of its systems, the clinic was able to reduce waits as well as serve a greater number of patients each day.




Improving the Quality of Health Care Services
Health Care Quality Improvement Program
Quality of Care for Underserved Populations
2004 Fellowship in Minority Health Policy
Program on Child Development and Preventive Care
Quality of Care for Frail Elders Program

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he U.S. health care system produces enormous benefits for the patients it serves. Nonetheless, in each of the six dimensions of health care—safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, equity, and efficiency—there is much room for improvement, both on an absolute basis and, in some instances, relative to the care that residents of other countries receive.
More people in health care today are talking about improving patient safety than they were five years ago when the Institute of Medicine released its seminal report, To Err Is Human. But it is not possible to say whether fewer people are dying or being harmed by medical error. Physician-recommended health care services are still not being delivered to millions of patients. Communication, an essential component of good, patient-centered care, could be improved for all patients, but particularly for minorities and those whose with limited English proficiency. Americans are less likely to be able to get same-day appointments with their primary care physicians than residents of many other industrialized nations. Disparities in the care received by minorities and low-income patients are more the rule than the exception. And there is growing evidence that in many instances, it is possible to deliver more effective care with fewer resources.
The Commonwealth Fund is addressing the challenges of improving health care quality through four distinct programs:

Health Care Quality Improvement focuses on developing information about quality, aligning financial incentives to stimulate quality improvement, and building the capacity of the health care system to achieve and sustain quality improvements.

Quality of Care for Underserved Populations works to improve quality and reduce disparities in health care for low-income and minority patients by raising awareness of problems, identifying and developing methods to improve care, and evaluating the effectiveness of quality improvement programs.

Child Development and Preventive Care is working to encourage, support, and sustain improvements in the way preventive care is provided to young children—especially those services dealing with cognitive, emotional, and social development.

Quality of Care for Frail Elders strives to improve care for nursing home residents by helping to change the prevailing culture in facilities from one that is institutionally centered to one that is resident-centered.
 
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Stephen C. Schoenbaum, M.D.
Executive Vice President for Programs