UC Health innovation center awards $3.4 million in grants
July 19, 2011 •
The University of California’s new Center for Health Quality and Innovation has awarded nine grants totaling $3.4 million to UC faculty and staff to improve patient care throughout California.
The grants include proposals to stop blood clots, reduce hospital readmissions, decrease falls in hospitals and limit patient exposure to radiation — collaborative efforts that will make patients safer.
Building on UC’s strengths in groundbreaking research and medical care, the Center for Health Quality and Innovation (CHQI) aims to improve patient care while decreasing costs, one of the key goals of health care reform. These objectives will be especially important in 2014 when millions more Californians become eligible for insurance coverage under health care reform.
“We’re harnessing UC’s intellectual power to transform health care delivery for all Californians,” said CHQI Executive Director Terry Leach. “Our faculty and staff, many of whom sit on national boards and organizations, want to improve the quality of care to all Californians, and this initiative will help make that happen.”
UC Health launched the center in October to promote and advance innovations in clinical care that will improve patient outcomes and quality of care within the UC system and beyond.
The center is governed by a board composed of the six UC medical school deans, five UC medical center CEOs and is chaired by the UC senior vice president for health sciences and services. The center received initial funding of $5 million — $1 million each from medical centers at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco.
Center officials hope to begin a second round of grants in the fall focusing on proposals that improve operational efficiency and quality by demonstrating a return on investment, and seek additional funding from interested stakeholders to support this effort.
UC faculty and staff submitted nearly 100 proposals for the first round of grants, with 61 advanced to CHQI for further review. The nine grants awarded aim not only to improve clinical care but to create a systems’ approach to change while embracing the perspective of patients and enhancing their experience along the continuum of care.
Go to the UC Newsroom website for the full report, including a list of the grant winners and their research projects.
