Preparing for the Future of Health Care
With major forces challenging health care today, MD Anderson teams are working hard to enhance care, reduce costs and define quality. The following stories help highlight those efforts.
Going Deep Into the Science of Improvement
Ask survivors to place a value on a future free from cancer, and they will say it's priceless. Put the question to a growing number of faculty and employees, and many will point to a wide range of initiatives designed to define, measure, share — and improve — the value of MD Anderson care.
Grass-Roots Effort Solves Bottleneck
Ibi Opuiyo gives little credence to the word "unfixable." When she united her colleagues, seeking to solve a bottleneck in patient care, this ultrasound technologist in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology turned on her computer and "attended" courses at
MD Anderson's Quality College.
Expanding Hope
For the past 15 years, Bill Hyslop's world has revolved around quality — and numbers. Hyslop, president and chief executive officer of the MD Anderson Physicians Network, says MD Anderson's affiliated hospitals and health care systems look to the institution to help improve the quality of cancer care in their communities.
What We Don't Ask Might Hurt
"Do you smoke cigarettes now?" is an important question. It can yield some promising results, says Jennifer Irvin Vidrine, Ph.D., assistant professor in
MD Anderson's Department of Health Disparities Research.
Knowledge Is Power
A youth symphony violinist, first-chair trumpet player in his high school band, varsity cross-country runner and stellar student with an affinity for physics, Shane Leonard didn't have cancer on his busy agenda.
Infographic: Perioperative Enterprise
With a focus on quality, MD Anderson established the Perioperative Enterprise early in Fiscal Year 2007 to better manage and coordinate operating room teams. An important component of the enterprise is the Perioperative Analysis Team, which has worked diligently to save MD Anderson millions of dollars.
