Immediate (November 16, 2004)

Sona Iyengar, Fletcher Allen Health Care Public Relations, (802) 847-9334

Jennifer Nachbur, University of Vermont Public Relations, (802) 656-7875

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Funds Quality Education Grant at Fletcher Allen Health Care and the University of Vermont

Fletcher Allen and its partners at the University of Vermont have been chosen as one of 12 academic health centers in the country to receive a $25,000 Partnerships for Quality Education grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to promote health care quality and safety.

Through this program, residents (doctors in training) and graduate nursing students at Fletcher Allen and the University of Vermont will go through a Web-based education course, culminating in their proposing plans to improve the quality and safety of patient care. They will use the experiences of their own patients to understand the strengths and shortcomings of the health care system.

The project is a joint effort between Fletcher Allen's Institute for Quality and Operational Effectiveness, the Graduate Medical Education Office at Fletcher Allen and the University of Vermont College of Medicine, and the Department of Nursing at the University of Vermont College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Residents from Family Medicine, Surgery, Medicine and Psychiatry will be participating in the program.

The residents' and nursing students' efforts will focus on improving patient safety. Specific areas of focus have not yet been identified, but could include initiatives such as improving medication safety or reducing the potential for patient falls. Patient safety is a major focus for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) - the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. JCAHO publishes a series of National Patient Safety Goals for all accredited organizations.

The Partnerships for Quality Education (PQE) program - officially called Achieving Competence Today (ACT) -- is designed to test whether groups of learners from different clinical disciplines can partner with senior management in their hospitals to become effective agents for improving care. In addition to Fletcher Allen and the University of Vermont, the other 11 academic health centers chosen to receive this grant are:

• Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Del.
• Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, Md.
• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.   
• University of California Davis, Davis, Calif.
• University Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio
• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn.
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
• University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
• University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.
• University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
• Vanderbilt University Hospital, Nashville, Tenn.

"We are very excited to be taking part in this initiative," said Anna Noonan, R.N., vice president of the Institute for Quality and Operational Effectiveness at Fletcher Allen, who is serving as the principal investigator for the program locally. "The hope is that this innovative way of educating residents and graduate nursing students will make a difference in the complex academic health care setting."

"Continuous professional development for doctors, nurses and other providers regarding patient safety and quality issues has received little attention in the past," said James C. Hebert, M.D., associate dean for Graduate Medical Education. "This project should provide an excellent model by which trainees can develop knowledge and skills in a systems-based approach while identifying and addressing immediate needs."

"The quality and safety of patient care is greatly enhanced when care is delivered within interdisciplinary teams," said Betty Rambur, D.NSc., dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. "This grant supports our ongoing efforts to socialize the next generation of providers to function within such teams."

Additional information about the grant is available at the Partnerships for Quality Education.

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Partnerships for Quality Education (PQE) was launched in 1996 with an $8.3 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. Guided by Pew's vision of better preparing primary care residents for practice in the evolving world of health care, PQE used its resources to foster collaboration between academic medical centers and managed care organizations.

Fletcher Allen Health Care, in alliance with the University of Vermont College of Medicine and College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont's only academic health center and one of 125 in the country.  Founded in 1995, through the merger of Fanny Allen Hospital, Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, and University Health Center, Fletcher Allen Health Care serves one million people in Vermont and northern New York.  The organization provides care at more than 40 sites and 100 outreach clinics in the region.

The Graduate Medical Education Office at Fletcher Allen and the University of Vermont offers 38 residency programs in a wide-range of disciplines. There are currently 274 residents enrolled in those programs.

The University of Vermont College of Nursing and Health Sciences was established in 2002, incorporating the School of Nursing and School of Allied Health into a single college. Undergraduate and graduate program offerings span a variety of health care disciplines, including nursing, biomedical technologies, physical therapy and medical laboratory science. There are currently 38 graduate nursing students enrolled.