Seeking new methods to improve care and deliver patient-centered, evidence-based best practices, Michigan State University and Sparrow Health System announced the establishment of a major initiative, the Center for Innovation.
This new center will focus on research intended to transform the delivery of care. The mission will be to develop, test, implement and evaluate innovative approaches that improve the patient experience while achieving national benchmark health care outcomes and greater value for consumers.
The center, an extension of an affiliation agreement Sparrow and MSU signed in 2009, seeks to combine talent, ideas and resources from each institution, along with recruiting nationally recognized researchers.
"The needs of the patient must come first, and that principle is at the core of the Center for Innovation," said Dennis Swan, Sparrow president and chief executive officer. "This is a joint collaboration with MSU that builds on our shared commitment to a culture of safety, quality and innovation. The center will help guide our efforts to deliver patient-centered, evidence-based, best practice medicine and nursing through the use of new approaches and engaging patients in their care."
The center will focus on high-priority opportunities and projects that can be rapidly developed and deployed. The goal is for patients to experience the benefits from research. The program also will help to foster creativity and innovation.
"This is one more example of MSU and Sparrow working together to improve health care in our community," MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said. "The center will facilitate interaction, blending the best ideas from one of the world's top research universities with those of the health professionals at Sparrow to develop innovative solutions to health care challenges."
The center will be guided by steering and operational committees with representatives from both institutions, along with consumers and community members. It initially will be housed in the Sparrow Professional Building, 1200 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. A search for a director is under way.
The project comes on the heels of the announcement by Sparrow and MSU last month that they plan to integrate a majority of their respective pediatric outpatient specialty services into a single location. The goal is to enhance patient care, improve access and convenience for pediatric patients and their families. Sparrow has many other longstanding arrangements with MSU's College of Human Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine and College of Nursing.