Ohio Health Quality Improvement Institute

Strategic Focus Area Descriptions

Focus Area:    Improving Patient Safety and Reducing Errors

Summary:       Health-associated infections, prescription and medication errors, wrong-site surgeries, and other medical errors cause thousands of deaths annually in Ohio. Reducing these infections and errors can not only save lives, but also substantially reduce health costs.  Discussion in this focus area should identify strategies and tactics that would substantially reduce health-associated infections, medication errors, or other medical errors throughout Ohio’s health system.

Focus Area:    Improve Chronic Care Management

Summary:      Chronic diseases, such as, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, pulmonary conditions, heart disease, and mental illness are the leading causes of death and disability in Ohio and account for the vast majority of health care spending.  The majority of cases of chronic disease could be prevented and/or better managed. Chronically ill patients receive only 56% of the clinically recommended prevention health care services. Discussion in this focus area will identify strategies and tactics that:

• focus on the essential elements of high-quality chronic disease care including the community, the health system, self-management support, delivery system design, decision support and clinical information systems
• foster productive integrations between informed patients who take an active part in their care and providers with resources and expertise

Focus Area:    Improving Efficiency and Decreasing Cost in the Healthcare System

Summary:       Much healthcare spending in Ohio and the United States creates no value or may create negative value.  Discussion in this focus area will identify strategies and tactics that:

• Create incentives for provider efficiency and disincentives for wasteful spending
• Address both clinical and administrative efficiencies
• Result in coordinated care so that duplicative and unnecessary tests, procedures  and prescribing do not occur
• Provide patients with the tools they need to make informed decisions based on cost-effectiveness and quality
• Focus on primary care and public health as cost effective delivery systems
• Evaluate the cost effectiveness, in addition to clinical effectiveness, of new technologies

Focus Area:    Promoting Health through Personal Responsibility and Disease and Injury Prevention

Summary:       Investment in strategies to promote healthier lifestyles (physical activity, better nutrition, freedom from tobacco use) in order to reduce the incidence of chronic disease and injury is essential to transform a system focused on treatment to one focused on health.  The increase in chronic diseases, such as diabetes, can be attributed in large part to the rise in obesity and overweight, while injury is associated with more risky behaviors.  Discussion in this focus area should explore and identify the approaches that would most efficiently - - in terms of time, resources, and potential impact - - move Ohio to a healthier state.