Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare launched by Ontario Medical Association

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) today announced the launch of a wholly-owned, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare services, the Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH).

IQMH offers accreditation, proficiency testing, knowledge transfer and facilitation and expertise services to medical laboratories and other healthcare organizations. As a partner with the Quality Management Program - Laboratory Services (QMP-LS), IQMH has over 30 years of expertise in quality assurance for healthcare behind it.

IQMH takes a collaborative and customized approach to quality management healthcare projects. Through its knowledge, innovation, expertise and professional partnerships, IQMH provides evidence-based and context-specific best practice advice to healthcare organizations.

"The Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare provides an invaluable resource for healthcare organizations," said Dr. Suzanne Strasberg, President of the OMA. "IQMH is well-positioned to ensure patient safety is taken to the next level by providing valuable information to organizations across the province."

"Patient safety is paramount and the principles of quality management can help healthcare organizations create systems that are designed to eliminate errors," said Dr. Gregory Flynn, IQMH's Chief Executive Officer. "IQMH's team of experts has been improving the quality of healthcare in medical laboratories in Ontario and other jurisdictions for over 30 years. Those same principles can be applied to a variety of different healthcare organizations and professions."

IQMH is creating an interactive online education series, Decoding ISO 15189(TM), which is designed to help medical laboratories understand the ISO 15189:2007(E) Medical laboratories - particular requirements for quality and competence standard. The series will be available this fall and will help labs decipher ISO 15189 requirements, understand quality management systems and implement occurrence management solutions.

"Labs both here and abroad have begun adopting that standard in order to demonstrate their commitment to excellence and improve patient safety. IQMH is dedicated to helping them in their efforts," Dr. Flynn said. "Decoding ISO 15189(TM) takes a very complex standard and distils it into easy-to-understand requirements. It provides medical laboratories with the knowledge and skills they need to prepare for accreditation."