Plexus Institute has an exciting new opportunity with of the creation of The Quality Commons (TQC), a consortium of 15 organizations, professionals and scholars we believe offers new promise for dramatic improvement of health care in America. Your support of Plexus Institute this year will make it possible for us to pursue more aggressively the mission of The Quality Commons:

…to improve health of Americans by using our collective wisdom, relationships, diverse capabilities and a complexity science framework to solve intractable health care challenges and transform patient care.

These additional resources will enable us to include a broader range of organizations in TQC initiatives, take greater advantage of our network of science advisors, and open up opportunities to apply innovations developed in the TQC to more communities where we can make a difference.

The Quality Commons, made up of seven health care organizations, seven scholars and researchers and Plexus Institute, has received a federal designation that will pave the way for innovative projects and research on how to deliver the best and most cost-effective care. Together with our science advisors, this new partnership seeks to change what is possible in health care by conducting pioneering research with an innovative twist—the work will be enriched by the complexity science principles that inform its design and evaluation. TQC won a nation-wide competition conducted by the U.S. Agency for Health Research & Quality (AHRQ) and for the next five years will be one of 17 federally designated ACTION Networks. ACTION stands for the federal AHRQ program called Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks.

AHRQ is the lead government agency charged with improving quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care for all Americans how to make care and access to care in America significantly better. Members have already begun to explore ways to foster healing relationships between patients and health care providers.

Several TCQ members previously collaborated in a successful initiative to use complexity science-informed behavior change processes that dramatically reduced the incidence of health care-associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infections in hospitals in the U.S. and abroad. That effort spread, and the processes used have helped address other quality issues. The success of the MRSA work was among the inspirations for TQC. Because of relationships, professional networks and experiences built over many years of health care service and advocacy, TQC members will be able to call on people in as many as 350 organizations across the U.S. when additional expertise is needed. In addition to healing relationships, possible topics for new exploration and funding include palliative care, and the special health care needs of minorities, the poor and those living in rural areas.

The theoretical, practical and scholarly diversity of the participants promise that original insights as well as professional competence will guide this exciting venture. The healthcare organizations have a wide range of medical specialties and our research partners have expertise in complexity science, mathematics, statistics, education, nursing, medical research, psychology, social networking and communications. Organizations in The Quality Commons are:

• Billings Clinic, Billings, MT
• Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, PA
• Cabin Creek Health Systems, Dawes. WV
• Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME
• Park Nicollet Health Services, St. Louis Park, MN
• University of Louisville Hospital, Louisville, KY
• Plexus Institute, Bordentown, NJ
• The Center for Family, Community and Social Justice, Princeton, NJ.

Research collaborators include Ruth Anderson, PhD, MSN, MA, professor of nursing, Duke University School of Nursing; Ary L. Goldberger, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard University; Larry Liebovitch, PhD, AM, dean of mathematics and natural sciences, Queens College of the City University of New York; and Bruce West, PhD, MA, chief scientist for mathematical and information science, U.S. Army Research Office.

Please support Plexus Institute by making a contribution to help with our commitment to the bold vision of TQC: to make better health care in America a reality. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have questions or comments. As always, your donations, your participation and your ideas are deeply appreciated.

Henri Lipmanowicz
Lisa Kimball
Curt Lindberg
And the Plexus team

Donors

Founder's Circle
Henri & Riitta Lipmanowicz
Merck Employee Giving Campaign

Benefactor's Circle
Hanna Foundation

Patron's Circle
Frank & Betsey Karel
Curt & Claire Lindberg
Ken & Carol Weg

Leader's Circle
Simon Benito
Michael Daly
Peter Ernster
John Fagan
Timothy Germany
Jerry Jackson
Mary Jurisson
Lisa Kimball
Richard Knowles
Steve Larned
Lois Lindberg
Jon Lloyd
Reuben McDaniel
Memorial Hospital Foundation
Martin Merry
Velvet Miller
Gareth Morgan
Diku & Robert Pitour
Kathy Reed
Linda Rusch
Patricia Rush
Carol Rykert
Liz Rykert
Marilyn Rymer
Julio Schmidlin
Walt & Judy Shipley
Cesar Simich
Frank Smits
George Soper
James Taylor
United Way
Grey Warner
Carl Winterose
Per Wold-Olsen

Friends Circle
Michael Agar
Ruth Anderson
Carl Bailey
Robert & Karen Bayly
Greg Becker
James Begun
Sharon Benjamin
R. L. Berek
Renee Bergstrom
Billings Clinic
Michael Bleich
Theresa Boyle
Ron Bremer
Prucia Buscell
David Cash
Lou Christie
Rich Cochran
Kenneth Cohn
Donna Cole
John Cooper
David Crisp
Glena Crooks
Joan Deardorff
Marc Dervishian
Linda DeWolf
Peter Dodek
Mike Doodson
Kevin Dooley
Stephanie Dougherty
Donald Dunn
James Dwyer
Arinne Edelman
Howard Ehrenkranz
Diane Elser
Jerry & Alan English
Anne English
Marie Erbstoeszer
Nancy Espenhorst
Evergreen Hospital
Robert Falcone
Peter Fielding
Carrol Fiorino
Joseph Fong
Randall Friedes
Jean-Pierre Gagnon
James Galloway
Diana Gengos
Timothy Germany
Sholom Glouberman
Ary Goldberger
James Hall
Jacob Harel
Patrick Hart
Helen Harte
J. Patrick Heffron
Alfred Herzog
Eitasu Hirata
Eileen Hoffman
June Holley
Peggy Holman
Susie Hull
Susan Hunter
Johannah Hutchison
Claire Hvozda
David Introcaso
Robert Johnson
Neal Kaufman
James Kellogg
Mary Kinnaman
Louise Kippist
Richard Kolodner
Rebecca Leahy
Tona Leiker
Josh Levin
Kristen Lindberg
Robert Lindberg
Laurent Lipmanowicz
Cindy Liskov
Mary McCartor
Joerg Meyer
Keith McCandless
Gerry McGinnis
Rich McLaughlin
Kevin McNally
Stewart Mennin
Mindy Meyer
Stephen Miller
Susie Mosse
Tina Mott
Kenjiro Nagasaka
George Naimark
Gail Nielsen
Kenneth O'Brien
Fred Patterson
Dixon & Diane Peer
John Peirce
Mark Perez
Daniel Pesut
Tom Petzinger
Mary Pierce
David Pierson
Kate Randolph
Marilyn Ray
Birute Regine
Ronald Reneau
Warren Riffle
Wendy Robbins
JoAnn & Jim Roberts
Robert Rohr
Shelton Rovin
Karma Ruder
Linda Ruswinkle
Rita Saenz & Maria Nemeth
Cynthia Schwartz
Tom Senker
Ed Septimus
Arun Shenoy
Arvind Singhal
Pamela Smith
Herb Stanelle
Rob Steiner
Nancy Stuever
Tony Suchman
Deborah Sword
Muneesh Tewari
Patreece Thompson
John Tobin
Jack Turner
Sharon Vanderkaay
Donna Westmorland
Wilson Wilmer
Robert Wise
Ardath Youngblood
Norman Zanger
Zohren Zarnegar
Harry Zerler