The Institute of Medicine’s Forum on the Science of Health Care Quality Improvement and Implementation convened a workshop in Washington, D.C. entitled, Creating a Business Case for Quality Improvement and Quality Improvement Research. The overall goal of the workshop was to develop a better understanding of the economic and business disciplines that encourage sustained efforts to improve the quality of health care.

During this workshop, experts were asked to discuss the business case, from the perspectives of those who are actually making the investment. The experts indicated that a business case for quality improvement can indeed be made. However, research to support the business case needs to be strengthened, for example in the areas of funding and training, to more definitively measure improvements in the value of health care.

The forum is used by the IOM to convene representatives from academia, government, and industry. In bringing together this broad group of stakeholders with diverse views, the forum provides a neutral setting where issues related to improving the science supporting health care quality improvement and implementation can be discussed.