Improvement Capability Development Program

Overview

Value-Focused Care is one of three priority areas highlighted in the Stanford Medicine Integrated Strategic Plan. Conceptually, value in health care equals the sum of quality and service divided by cost and multiplied by engagement of physicians and staff.

The Improvement Capability Development Program (ICDP) is a joint venture between the Department of Quality for Stanford Healthcare and the Stanford School of Medicine that was launched in Spring 2017. Through ICDP, Stanford Health Care commits to returning up to 10 percent of a department’s clinical revenue to help develop and execute far-reaching improvement projects, depending on engagement and outcomes. These funds support faculty conducting improvement work, including research and education related to value-focused care. Starting in Fall 2023, ICDP contains the domains of: (1) Quality, Safety, & Health Equity; (2) Patient Experience; (3) Physician Wellbeing; (4) Financial Strength; as well as the key priority area of Patient Flow and Capacity.

Objectives of ICDP

  • Development of a network of Physician Improvement Leaders. In Neurology, Dr. Carl Gold serves as the Physician Improvement Leader, Dr. Laurice Yang serves as the Associate Physician Improvement Leader for Outpatient Neurology, and Dr. Zach Threlkeld serves as the Associate Physician Improvement Leader for Inpatient Neurology. Dr. Gold, Dr. Yang, and Dr. Threlkeld meet monthly with Physician Improvement Leaders from other departments to learn from one another about common challenges and to discuss opportunities for collaboration. As the Physician Improvement Leader, Dr. Gold serves as the department’s single point of contact with domain leaders, such as the Chief Quality Offer, Chief Experience Office, and Chief Wellness Officer.
  • Creation of improvement infrastructure in each department. In Neurology, this has led to the formation of the Neurology Quality Council. It has also supported the expansion of additional committees, such as the Neurology Care Review Committee, the Neurology Wellbeing Committee, and the SHC-TriValley Neurology Quality Committee.
  • Completion of multiple major annual improvement projects per department focused on elements of the value equation. In Neurology, these projects have balanced the priorities of hospital operations leaders, department leadership, faculty members, and trainees.

Impact of ICDP

With every clinical department focused on providing high-quality, safe care, reducing low-value practices, and fostering physician and staff engagement, ICDP quickly led to national accolades. Vizient is the nation’s leading health care performance improvement company that measures overall safety and quality in patient care. Stanford Medicine rapidly ascended from No. 71 in inpatient care in 2017 to No. 12 in 2018, for which it was awarded the Vizient Quality Leadership Rising Star Award.

In 2019, Stanford Medicine ranked No. 8 out of 93 peer academic medical centers for inpatient care and No. 3 out of 50 peer AMCs for ambulatory care. In honor of this performance, Stanford Medicine received two Vizient awards: the 2019 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Award and 2019 Ambulatory Care Quality and Accountability Award. There was no official Vizient ranking for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Stanford Medicine ranked No. 10 out of 101 peer academic medical centers for inpatient care and No. 5 out of 53 centers for ambulatory care. In 2022, Stanford ranked No. 17 out of 107 peer academic medical center for inpatient care and No. 9 out of 55 centers for ambulatory care. In 2023, these rankings were No. 16 out of 116 for inpatient care and No. 10 out of 62 centers for ambulatory care.

Neurology’s participation in ICDP has also led to multiple publications, including three manuscripts (1 2 3) about the launch of teleneurology during the COVID-19 pandemic written in partnership with the Stanford Evaluations Sciences Unit.

Beyond these demonstrations of high-quality, safe, and innovative care, we feel that the truest impact of ICDP has been the accelerated embrace of a culture of continuous improvement and belief in the power of teamwork.

Annual Improvement Projects

Carl Gold, MD, MS
Physician Improvement Leader,
Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Laurice Yang, MD, MHA
Associate Physician Improvement Leader for Outpatient Neurology,
Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences

Zach Threlkeld, MD
Associate Physician Improvement Leader for Inpatient Neurology, Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences