More disconnect between tech and quality

In December, I lamented the fact that few healthcare technology types were anywhere to be found at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement‘s annual conference on healthcare quality. It occurred to me that there was a tremendous disconnect between those who focus on health information technology and those involved healthcare quality improvement.

On Friday, I received a brochure for the Quality Institute for Healthcare, sponsored by the American Society for Quality. Honestly, I had never heard of this organization before.

The program, Feb. 14-16 in New Orleans, looks interesting, with a keynote by well-known technology advocate Dr. Brent James of Intermountain Health Care in Salt Lake City.

The only problem is that the largest health IT show of the year, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society‘s annual conference, is going on the very same week in Dallas.

Technology and quality continue to operate in different orbits.