Dear colleagues,

I hope you’ll join us at the 2018 Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare. For the 6th year in a row, IHI is proud to partner with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to host the Middle East Forum. Thanks to the leadership of HMC and the commitment from all of you, more and more people in the region are on the journey toward improved health and health care. I am thrilled that in addition to Don Berwick and Maureen Bisognano, Dr. Tejal Gandhi, IHI’s Chief Clinical and Safety Officer, will be teaching at the Forum. Dozens of other IHI and HMC leaders, as well as innovative practitioners and experts in improvement from around the world will join you for an engaging three days of learning and exploration.

The Triple Aim of better care, better public health, and lower costs continues to guide all of the work that will be shared and celebrated at this year’s Forum. And this year, there is a renewed focus on one of the most important contributors to the Triple Aim – patient safety. The theme of this year’s Middle East Forum is “Building a Culture of Safety”. For the past 25 years, IHI’s work to improve safety has taught us that one-off projects and initiatives are not sufficient to ensure safety for our patients and our staffs. We need comprehensive systems of safety that both rely on, and continually strengthen, a culture that prioritizes patient safety, and staff safety, as imperatives.

We had this top of mind in May, 2017, when IHI and the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) merged to mutually reinforce each organization’s commitment to improving patient safety. Dr. Gandhi, her entire team of safety experts, as well as the thousands of individuals and organizations connected to each other through NPSF, have all joined IHI in its mission to improve health and health care. I know this will make events like this year’s Middle East Forum richer and more essential than ever.

It will be a special week in Doha – with leaders, experts, and delegates all sharing their knowledge and inspiring future generations of healthcare leaders. You won’t want to miss it.

Derek Feeley

President and CEO

Institute for Healthcare Improvement