West African nations represented at health-care quality conference

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) recently hosted the 27th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care in Orlando, Florida.

This year's forum drew over 5,000 health care industry representatives from all over the world, including attendees from the West African nations of Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana.

"We have made tremendous gains over the last 27 years, but to get where we need to be with health and health care in the U.S. and in other countries, there can be no let up," Maureen Bisognano, IHI's president and chief executive officer, said. "We still have lots to do, but together with our global community, I have never been more confident that we will achieve the Triple Aim of better care, better health and lower costs.”

IHI's partner organizations in West Africa are focused on developing programs to educate and raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, maternal and child health, mental health and patient safety.

Other speakers at the event included U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; former National Basketball Association player Earvin “Magic” Johnson; Craig Kielburger, co-founder of Free the Children; and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Don Berwick.