American College of Physicians Launches New Services for Quality Improvement

Philadelphia, April 11, 2019 -- The American College of Physicians (ACP) today at its Internal Medicine Meeting 2019 unveiled ACP Advance, a new quality improvement (QI) program to help organizations and physicians improve patient care. ACP Advance features a physician-led coaching service, a new QI curriculum, and access to virtual training programs and resources.

"ACP Advance benefits both patients and physicians," said ACP President Ana María López, MD, MPH, MACP. "Success in quality improvement improves patient outcomes. Making meaningful practice changes improves physician well-being because it promotes a positive culture and empowers physicians and their teams to engage in QI that helps achieve quality goals that matter."

Physician-led Coaching

The ACP Advance coaching service provides expert physician-led coaching in quality improvement and high value care through virtual training in quality improvement methodology based on ACP’s new QI curriculum, tailored coaching to support QI implementation over the course of 12 months, and webinars for sharing of best practices and collaborative learning opportunities.

Over the course of a year, ACP coaches will work with organizations and practices to help them assess gaps, identify priorities, and co-design a tailored QI initiative. ACP coaches will provide ongoing virtual implementation support and curate a package of ACP’s resources in quality improvement, change management, high value care, joy in practice, and patient engagement.

“Internal medicine physicians developed ACP Advance for physicians and their teams,” said Cynthia Smith, MD, FACP, ACP’s Vice President, Clinical Programs. “ACP’s expert physician coaches work with clinical teams to empower them to engage in quality improvement that meaningfully addresses their QI goals, priorities, and pain points.”

Quality Improvement Curriculum

The ACP Advance quality improvement curriculum provides virtual and practical, step-by-step guidance to support organizations and individual physicians through each step of the QI process, from establishing the reason for change to implementing and sustaining change. The curriculum integrates four key pillars to achieve success: clinician engagement and ownership, team-based care, patient and family partnership, and maximizing efficiency while minimizing burden. Individual ACP members and ACP Advance subscribers may access the curriculum for free. ACP non-members will be able to access the curriculum for a fee.

CME and MOC points are available for physicians who participate in the physician-led coaching and / or the curriculum. These activities also count for patient safety CME.

Chronic Care Programs and Resources

The ACP Advance chronic care QI programs and resources span various clinical conditions and focus areas including adult immunization, atrial fibrillation, chronic pain and safe opioid prescribing, and diabetes.

About the American College of Physicians

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 154,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.