Straight talk new approaches to healthcare. The healthcare quality equation.

Though various health organizations may define and approach quality differently, the common denominator is the patient's perspective, experience and outcome. Quality issues should be an important part of health system executives' agenda. Successful quality programs have a number of key ingredients, including decision-reporting tools and business analytics information--which depend on robust information reporting and a system-wide electronic medical record--as well as highly motivated employees and physicians. In this installment of Straight Talk, representatives from two health systems--Kaiser Permanente and Clarian Health Partners--discuss their quality initiatives.