ABSTRACT
As health systems across the globe encounter multifaceted challenges including financial and resource constraints, changes to population health, aging societies, and balancing individualization and standardization in various health care sectors, quality is increasingly becoming a prominent theme in healthcare agendas. At the same time as, concerns about patient safety have emerged, resulting in demands from the public for greater transparency, quality, and accountability within healthcare systems. Cumulatively, these circumstances have resulted in the quality and safety of care becoming a foremost priority for many jurisdictions and healthcare systems. In order to establish safer healthcare systems that are viable and sustainable, to enhance the patient experience, and to propel healthcare agendas forward, it is all the more important for healthcare providers, clinical experts, and policy advisors to share the lessons they have learned and the obstacles they have encountered while implementing initiatives, modifying strategies, and facilitating reform within their healthcare settings. Fortunately, lessons in quality are being shared and enhancements in patient safety are being brought to the forefront at regional, national, and international levels. One such example is a book published by Longwoods Publishing entitled High Performing Healthcare Systems: Delivering Quality By Design. This book is comprised of case studies that highlight healthcare systems from around the world that have exemplified high performance and that have embedded the pursuit of patient safety and healthcare quality as essential components to the delivery of care (Brown, 2008). The case studies profile health systems from a variety of geographic locations, including the Veterans Affairs New England Healthcare System in the United States to the Jönköping County Council in Sweden. The International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) is a pertinent example of an organization that encourages and supports knowledge sharing and exchange. These exchanges are also occurring across industries, with approaches, strategies, and tools being adopted from such high-risk industries as aviation and nuclear energy. Notwithstanding the fact that the means by which health care is being delivered, financed, and structured may
differ considerably amongst jurisdictions, there is ample opportunity to learn from and reflect upon the research and quality improvement efforts underway in other countries to determine how one’s local healthcare system can be improved. This chapter explores how Dr Janne Lehmann Knudsen-a Danish physician and leader in healthcare quality-has promoted patient involvement and enabled enhancements to the quality of care in Denmark’s healthcare system. This chapter also touches upon how the knowledge attained through her innovative research, publications, and presentations can be transferred into clinical practice in other healthcare systems around the world.
