Physician engagement is a key element of health care quality improvement. Challenges include competing demands, inconsistent compensation, knowledge deficits, and lack of mentorship and role modeling. To help address these obstacles, UMass Memorial Medical Center developed a physician quality officer (PQO) program in 2007. Since its inception, several elements of the program have changed, including PQO roles in projects, approaches to training, logistics of group communication, the role of PQOs in medical staff education, and the PQO compensation model.
WalshKEEttingerWHKlugmanRA. Physician quality officer: a new model for engaging physicians in quality improvement. Am J Med Qual. 2009;24:295-301.
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Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Going Lean in Health Care. Cambridge, MA: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2005. IHI Innovation Series White Paper.
StilleCSavageauJMcBrideJAlperE. Quality improvement “201”: context-relevant quality improvement leadership training for the busy clinician-educator. Am J Med Qual. 2012;27:98-105.
