Creating & Implementing a
QUALITY INSTITUTE
Dr. Andrew Crane serves as the Quality Institute's Physician Champion. Photos courtesy of Dr. Michael Morelli.
in Your Practice
Michael S. Morelli MD, CPE, FACG President, Indianapolis Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Indianapolis, IN
ALL PHYSICIANS
want to provide high-quality care to their patients. It is part of a universal mission in the medical profession, although accomplishing that goal is more difficult than simply professing it. In today's medical environment, it is incumbent upon physicians to actually prove the quality of care they claim and strive to give. Patients, insurance companies, health care systems, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) all demand this. Thus, proving quality care is important for many reasons including improving patient outcomes, lowering cost of care, attracting more patient referrals, improving satisfaction rates among patients and referring physicians, and improving reimbursement. Providing—and proving—this high-quality care requires a culture devoted to quality, baseline metrics and benchmarks to measure and aspire to, and an information technology (IT) and work force infrastructure to document and submit measures.
A CULTURE OF QUALITY IN INDIANAPOLIS In 2015, our group developed the Quality Institute at Indianapolis Gastroenterology and Hepatology (IGH), with the goal of developing a dedicated and structured approach to providing high-quality care to our patients. This essentially became another department of our practice, no different in a sense from the Revenue Cycle Management Department, Scheduling Department, Medical Records Department, etc. Getting it Right | 19
