IHI Names Maureen Bisognano President and CEO

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) announced today that Maureen A. Bisognano, IHI's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will become its President and CEO. She will succeed Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, when he is sworn in as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Berwick was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama yesterday.

Maureen Bisognano, an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at IHI for the last 15 years. In so doing, she advises health care leaders around the world, is a frequent speaker at major conferences on quality improvement, and is a tireless advocate for change. She is also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Research Associate in the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.  

"Maureen Bisognano is the ideal successor to Don Berwick, who has led IHI with such extraordinary insight, vision, and drive since its founding in 1991," said IHI Board Chairman A. Blanton Godfrey. "Maureen has been Don's chief partner in IHI's management and evolution since she joined IHI in 1995. She is a prominent authority on improving health care systems and is well known and widely respected throughout the global health care improvement community. The IHI Board is delighted that Maureen will succeed Don, and we look forward to her leadership as IHI continues to expand its role in advocating for and implementing health care improvement around the world. The fact that the White House has turned to IHI to fill this crucial position within the Department of Health and Human Services underscores the recognition that IHI has achieved under Don Berwick's remarkable leadership. Don now hands the torch to Maureen at a time when IHI's mission has clearly become central to national goals."

"While my departure from IHI is, of course, bittersweet," said Donald Berwick, "I am absolutely delighted that the IHI Board of Directors has selected Maureen Bisognano to become IHI's new President and CEO. This is not just a great choice by our board; it is a thrilling choice. I know no one in the world who is better equipped than Maureen to lead the shaping and reshaping of IHI's strategies and systems to ensure that IHI and its mission evolve and thrive in this exciting time and into a robust future. Meanwhile, I am honored that the President has chosen me to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and I look forward with great enthusiasm to this new challenge."

"IHI has an enormous mission, to improve health and health care worldwide, and we have benefited from Don Berwick's vision and leadership for more than two decades," said Maureen Bisognano. "It is difficult to imagine IHI without Don. He has been the head, the heart, and the soul of the organization since its founding. However, in keeping with Don's leadership style, he has surrounded himself with an extraordinary and dedicated team of colleagues who have made many strides in improving safety, effectiveness and efficiency in health care. Together, we will carry IHI's work forward, maintaining the qualities associated with Don – a commitment to excellence, a constant focus on innovation based on research and listening to patients and people on the front line, a firm belief in collaboration, and the joy of making change a reality. I am honored to serve as IHI's next President and CEO and look forward to working to close the gaps that still exist in health and health care quality. We are ready to take on the challenges ahead."

Prior to joining IHI, Ms. Bisognano was Senior Vice President of The Juran Institute, where she consulted with senior management on the implementation of total quality management in health care settings. Before that, she served as CEO of the Massachusetts Respiratory Hospital in Braintree, MA, where she participated in the National Demonstration Project, the precursor to IHI. She began her career in health care in 1973 as a staff nurse at Quincy City Hospital. Employed by Quorum Health Resources, she served as Director of Nursing at Quincy City Hospital from 1981 to 1982, Director of Patient Services from 1982 to 1986, and Chief Operating Officer from 1986 to 1987.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is an independent not-for-profit organization helping to lead the improvement of health care throughout the world.  Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, IHI (www.ihi.org) works to accelerate improvement by building the will for change, cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care, and helping health care systems put those ideas into action.

SOURCE Institute for Healthcare Improvement