Four New Organizations Join National Coalition to Improve Diagnosis

Coalition Welcomes Them to a Collaborative of Over 60 Leading Healthcare Organizations

Evanston, IL – (December 29, 2020) Four leading healthcare organizations, AMGA (American Medical Group Association), END SEPSIS, Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF), and Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have committed to take action to improve diagnostic quality and safety by joining the Coalition to Improve Diagnosis, which already includes more than 60 of the most prominent organizations in health care and patient advocacy.

“Accurate, timely, and communicated diagnosis remains a top goal for the Coalition, especially in the current COVID-19 pandemic,” said Paul L. Epner, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM). “The Coalition will continue in its efforts to create awareness, advocate for increased research funding, and drive quality improvement in the field of diagnostic quality and safety.”

Convened and led by SIDM, the Coalition to Improve Diagnosis is the only major confederation of diverse healthcare organizations singularly focused on improving the diagnostic process. Together, they work to find solutions that enhance diagnostic quality and safety, reduce harm and ultimately, ensure better health outcomes for patients.

Joining the Coalition, these new additions represent clinician organizations, the patient sector, the quality and safety field, and the medical education community—all committed to taking specific actions to improve diagnostic quality and safety:

AMGA (American Medical Group Association) is a nonprofit trade organization representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated health systems. More than 175,000 physicians practice in AMGA member organizations, delivering care to one in three Americans. Launched in March 2016, AMGA Foundation's national campaign Together 2 Goal® challenges 150 participating medical groups and health systems to improve care for 1 million people with type 2 diabetes. Campaign participants achieved this goal in just 3 years. The importance of diagnosis is emphasized by the fact that fully one-third of the improvements were a new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

END SEPSIS is a national organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of infection and sepsis and improving hospital protocols to facilitate the early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis patients. The organization was founded in 2012 following the preventable death of 12-year-old Rory Staunton from undiagnosed, untreated sepsis. It is responsible for the implementation of mandatory sepsis protocols in all New York State hospitals which have been shown to prevent thousands of sepsis deaths each year. Their work has impacted policy at the national level, drawing widespread attention to, and action on, the issue of sepsis and infection.

Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF) is an independent nonprofit organization that drives high value health care through stakeholder collaboration and targeted quality improvement initiatives. HCIF serves as the coordinating center for the Pennsylvania Urologic Regional Collaborative (PURC) collaborative. PURC is a quality improvement initiative established in February 2015 that brings urology practices together to advance the quality of diagnosis and care for men with prostate cancer through collaborative learning and the use of a shared data registry to monitor key performance metrics.

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a large multi-hospital academic healthcare system in South Carolina, which is committed to improving diagnoses for patients and families. MUSC recognizes the complexity in ensuring patients and families receive accurate and timely diagnosis, and is very excited to learn and improve with other committed organizations.

In September 2018, the Coalition launched ACT for Better Diagnosis™ by calling on organizations to identify and spread practical steps to better ensure diagnoses are Accurate, Communicated and Timely. The 60+ organizations now behind the effort represent clinicians, patients, health systems, researchers and testing professionals—all acknowledging that improvement will require sustained work over several years with all stakeholders involved.

The Coalition to Improve Diagnosis is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Stay informed on the latest activities from members of the Coalition to Improve Diagnosis by signing up for regular updates here.

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About the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM)
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine catalyzes and leads change to improve diagnosis and eliminate harm from diagnostic error. We work in partnership with patients, their families, the healthcare community and every interested stakeholder. SIDM is the only organization focused solely on the problem of diagnostic error and improving the accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis. In 2015 SIDM established the Coalition to Improve Diagnosis to increase awareness and actions that improve diagnosis. Members of the Coalition represent hundreds of thousands of healthcare providers and patients—and the leading health organizations and government agencies involved in patient care. Together, we work to find solutions that enhance diagnostic safety and quality, reduce harm, and ultimately, ensure better health outcomes for patients. Visit www.ImproveDiagnosis.org to learn more.

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