29-06-2007 – Quality Assurance in Health Care

29-06-2007
The College of Health Sciences at the American University of Armenia organized a satellite symposium on “Quality Assurance in Health Care”, which took place on June 29 within the 2nd International Medical Congress of Armenia. The main goal of this event was to emphasize the importance of quality assurance in health care sharing international experience with local healthcare providers and administrators.

The panelists of the symposium were prominent health specialists from Armenia and the United States:

Haroutune Armenian, MD, DrPH, President, American University of Armenia; Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
Tatul Hakobyan, MD, MBA, MPH, Deputy Minister of Health of Armenia
Robert Bagramian, DDS, PhD, Dean, College of Health Sciences, American University of Armenia; Professor, University of Michigan, USA
Anahit Demirchyan, MD, MPH, Senior Research Specialist, American University of Armenia
Ruzanna Yuzbashyan, MD, Chair of the Primary Health Care Department, Ministry of Health
Salpy Agarakyan, MN, RN, Clinical Education Specialist, Director of the International Nursing Center, UCLA, USA
Sarah Kagan, PhD, FAAN, RN, Professor of Gerontological Nursing, Clinician-Educator, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, USA
Jerry Manoukian, MD, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, California, USA.

The panelists discussed issues related to establishing, maintaining and improving the quality of health care. The Deputy Minister Tatul Hakobyan mentioned that quality assurance in health care is one of the priority areas for the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the MOH strategic plan for the next 5-10 years emphasizes the role of internal audit and creation of committees for internal monitoring for quality assurance.

Summarizing the symposium, Dr. Armenian mentioned, “The secret of success is not in reaching the accepted standards, but in striving for excellence.”

At the end, 90 participants of the symposium received, as a present from AUA, the book by Avetis Donabedian “Basics of Quality Assurance in Health Care” which was written upon Dr. Armenian’s request for the Armenian healthcare providers.