Learning & Health Systems Improvement

What exactly is a Learning Health System? Definitions are highly variable and differ from one health organization and system to the next. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison's LHS program, the most common characterization of an LHS approach is that "we learn from what we do, and do what we learn."

In part one of this two-part episode, Program Director Majid Afshar and Associate Program Director Anne Gravel Sullivan talk with Dr. Jeff Pothof, Chief Quality Officer at UW Health, about the hallmarks of a Learning Health System and how they differ from the quality improvement process. They discuss the benefits of the LHS approach to healthcare improvement and the role the Institute for Clinical and Translational Reasarch (ICTR) plays in creating the architecture to support the LHS as both a research and system improvement enterprise. They delve into the variables that help facilitate change --or generate obstacles--with an LHS approach, as well as the potential for Artificial Intelligence to help accelerate positive change in the UW Health learning health system.