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Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) shared its dynamic and complex quality improvement journey with healthcare leaders from around the world at the 32nd conference of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua), which concluded recently at the Qatar National Convention Center.
ISQua is a global organization with a network of members that spans over 100 countries and five continents. Organized in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Health, the international conference represented an ideal platform for HMC to engage with ISQua delegates to exchange practical insights into best practice methodologies and programs designed to deliver better patient care.
The delegates who attended the conference were healthcare professionals from different backgrounds including policy makers, regulators, accreditors, quality improvement leaders, innovators, researchers, healthcare professionals, hospital managers and front-line clinicians. The prestigious conference was staged for the first time in a Gulf Cooperation Council country.
Dr. Abdullatif Al-Khal, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Medical Education at HMC, who is a member of the ISQua Program Planning Committee, said: “This year’s ISQua conference theme of ‘Building Quality and Safety into the Healthcare System’ reflects HMC’s commitment to introducing sustainable systems improvements that lead to better care outcomes as well as better patient experiences. Patient safety is a global initiative extending throughout the entire continuum of health care and we were delighted to have been able to exchange our experiences with other professionals at this conference.”
A recent extension of HMC’s commitment to quality improvement is the development of the Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute (HHQI), which has been designed with the aim of improving the quality of healthcare within HMC, Qatar and the greater region.
“The Institute focuses on designing innovative healthcare solutions as well as aligns and coordinates these quality improvement activities to reflect related national priorities in order to benefit the organization and its patients,” stated Dr. Adeel Butt – Interim Chief Quality Officer for HMC and the Director of HHQI. “The introduction of HHQI builds on and complements existing departments and services within HMC and this model will eventually be shared regionally. We are also committed to promoting capacity and capability among our staff – especially our Qatari clinicians – in this important field.”
The HHQI team led the development of the satellite symposium held on the opening day of the conference, titled: “Delivering Quality Improvement to Reach Excellence”. Senior clinical leaders from HMC presented at the symposium, including Dr. Yousuf Al Maslamani, Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital, Professor Michael Richmond, the Chief Medical Officer at HMC and Dr. Butt.
“HMC has expanded at such a rapid rate to serve the needs of Qatar’s diverse patient population and this has required a comprehensive, consistent and sustained focus on quality improvement. Our vision – to deliver the safest, most effective and most compassionate care to each and every one of our patients – can only be achieved by demonstrating a commitment to the highest quality services while building and improving workforce capability,” said Dr. Al Maslamani.
“In our symposium, we highlighted our own quality improvement journey to international experts in this field who are equally committed to continual learning and sharing the expert knowledge gained.”
