I am pursuing with others funding to improve asthma care for children in Medicaid managed care, and to do similar asthma training in a network of Article 28 health care centers. A parallel and contemporaneous project of training providers to diagnose domestic violence in an urban HMO covered a year an a half, and the outcome data await analysis. This training has itself been translated to a computer format in an experiment to see if case-based training can be usefully taught through distance education. This model of cybertraining has opened several new opportunities for me to develop educational strategies that are measurable and sustainable. I have become interested in the use of handheld computers to do quality improvement work at the point of care, and plan a project to pilot this concept.
Handholds hold out the promise of improving patient safety in a practical measurable way.
I am a firm believer in open systems, and invite others to join in any of these projects.