WASHINGTON, DC — May 16, 2024 — The American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) has presented its Leape Ahead Award to two prominent healthcare systems: Cahaba Medical Care and Virginia Mason Medical Center.
Established in 2011, the Leape Ahead Award recognizes institutions and their leaders who are dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare by developing medical students and residents into future healthcare leaders.
The Leape Award honors the extraordinary dedication and commitment of Lucian Leape, MD, a former pediatric surgeon who emphasized establishing a respectful, professional training environment for medical students and residents.
Cahaba Medical Care, Cahaba + UAB Family Medicine Residency Program
Cahaba Medical Care (CMC) established the Cahaba Family Medicine Residency (CFMR) in Centreville, Bibb County, Alabama, in 2013 to address Alabama’s crisis of a lack of access to primary care services, particularly in rural and urban underserved areas.
The residency program matches 20 residents per year, and has trained 62 residents to date, in primary care in underserved parts of central Alabama, with 75% of graduates entering primary care in medically underserved communities (3x the national average), 25% entering primary care in rural underserved communities (5x the national average), and 97% of the program’s graduates are remaining in active practice in primary care.
The program’s success demonstrates the importance of intentional training programs that prepare family medicine residents to practice in underserved areas and address the primary care shortage in Alabama.
Virginia Mason Medical Center, Leadership in Quality Improvement Pathway (LQIP) Program
In 2018, Virginia Mason Medical Center’s (VMMC) Internal Medicine Residency Program created a quality improvement and leadership training pathway for residents called the Leadership in Quality Improvement Pathway (LQIP).
The LQIP used the existing quality improvement training infrastructure focused on the Virginia Mason Production System (VMPS) with additional training in leadership skills to help shape its residents into the future change-leaders of healthcare. Residents enrolled in the LQIP complete training in VMPS allowing them to lead their own quality improvement event by the end of their residency and also receive one-on-one mentoring from leaders at VMMC.
Graduates of the LQIP have led quality improvement events resulting in significant improvements at the resident-led Eastgate Public Health Center in terms of patient flow through clinic, education from preceptors, and management of paper documents which arrive at clinic. At VMMC, residents have led quality improvement events which streamlined the process of resident day-to-night hand-off and co-led an event to provide discharge documentation in the preferred language of patients who are hospitalized.
The LQIP has elevated the educational opportunities for residents at VMMC in the areas of leadership and quality improvement, creating the next generation of quality improvement and change-leaders for healthcare.
“CMC and VMMC distinguish the realm of physician leadership with their contributions that are both showing immediate results and demonstrating a longer-term strategic view toward overall improvement in the areas of patient safety, streamlining processes and procedures, and addressing underserved communities,” said Peter Angood, MD, FRCS (C), FACS, MCCM, FAAPL(Hon), president and chief executive officer of AAPL.
About the American Association for Physician Leadership
The core philosophy of the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) is that leadership is learned. AAPL is focused on the personal transformation of all physicians, and through them the organizations they serve. With the goal of improving patient outcomes, workforce wellness, and a refinement of all healthcare delivery, AAPL has remained the only association solely focused on providing professional development, leadership education, and management training exclusively for physicians. Since its founding in 1975, AAPL has educated 250,000+ physicians across 40 countries—including CEOs, chief medical officers, and physicians at all levels of healthcare. www.physicianleaders.org