Health Improvement Alliance Europe

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Health Improvement Alliance Europe is a coalition of leaders united for change, driven by collaboration, and focused on achieving health and health care results.

The Alliance is an exclusive community dedicated to continuous learning and identification of best practices and new models from within and outside health and health care. The group aims to create new delivery models relevant to European health systems, and achieve the best health and best care at an affordable cost in the face of changing demographics, increasing chronic illness, and economic challenges.

IHI, with its rich history of improving health and health care worldwide for more than 30 years, is uniquely positioned to convene forward-thinking health care organisation leaders in this bold, collaborative learning environment.

The current program year began in October 2024. For more information, please download the 2024–2025 Prospectus.

Bold and Visionary Health Care Leadership

Patients, families, providers, and communities within Europe are looking for bold and visionary health care leaders — leaders who believe that now, perhaps more than ever before, we must change the dialogue about health care.

How will our health and care systems cope with the demands if we do not generate new models of delivery that will improve the health and health care for all of our citizens? This is why a coalition of progressive leaders have formed the IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe.

Aims and Objectives

To achieve our aim to improve work processes, create new delivery models, disseminate our learning and ideas, and achieve the best health and best care at affordable cost, the Health Improvement Alliance Europe aims to:

Surface common challenges across and within regions
Develop a cadre of diverse innovators and encourage innovative thinking
Leverage each other’s ideas and successes, sharing internationally
Hone a strong, bold, collective voice
Learn from past and present networks at IHI and worldwide

An "All Teach, All Learn" Network

Join the IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe to connect with like-minded colleagues under a philosophy of “all teach, all learn” that can significantly accelerate the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to strive for best health.

Learn and test new innovations with other leaders, spreading improvements in new systems
Share ideas and strategies across organisational, regional, and national boundaries
Create new delivery models relevant to European health systems to achieve the best care at affordable considering changing demographics, increasing chronic illness, and economic challenges
Meet and connect with like-minded colleagues who strive for the best health; best care; at affordable costs…for everyone.

Alliance Benefits and Fees

Membership Commitment

Send representatives to two in-person meetings throughout the year
Invite staff from your organisation to contribute to All-Alliance webinars
Active participation in the selection and success of workgroups
Courage and boldness toward the Alliance's aspirations to improve

Membership Benefits

The group’s learning opportunities are driven by and for members with a focus on innovations relevant to system challenges in Europe. Benefits for members include:

Direct access to health care organisations leading in improvement
Opportunities to develop professional networks with members
Unlimited organisational participation in collaborative harvesting, designing, and testing
Unlimited organisational participation in workgroups, virtual meetings, email listserv, and virtual workspace

Additional Membership Benefits

Organisational representation two in-person meetings throughout the year
Access to IHI experts and resources during in-person meetings, virtual All-Alliance webinars, and at IHI Forums
Permission to use Health Improvement Alliance Europe Member badge on social media, email signatures, and other relevant resources
15% discount to attend these IHI conferences:
- IHI Forum (held annually in December in the United States)
- IHI/BMJ International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare (held annually in April in Europe)

Enrollment Fees

The enrolment fee is $12,000 USD per organisation. If your organisation joins before 30 June 2024, the fee is $10,200 USD.

The next wave of this program begins in October 2024.

Please email europeteam@ihi.org to learn more about joining next fall or to speak with a member of the IHI team.
Download the prospectus for additional information

IHI may, in its discretion, cancel, postpone, or otherwise modify this event at any time, with or without notice. If IHI does so and as a result, a registrant is unable to participate in the event, IHI will refund the registration fee. The registrant, however, will remain responsible for other costs (such as travel and lodging) the registrant incurs in connection with the event, and IHI will not refund the registrant, nor otherwise be responsible for, such costs. Registrants should proceed accordingly and consider travel/lodging cancellation policies — as well as purchasing travel insurance — when incurring such costs. IHI asks registrants to take into consideration the currently evolving situation and advisories related to Coronavirus before incurring travel, lodging, and other costs related to this event.

Alliance Design and Principles

Alliance Design

Through an “all teach, all learn” network design, the IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe seeks innovative health care designs that can be adapted successfully to European health systems and national contexts.

The group’s learning opportunities are driven by and for members, with a focus on innovations relevant to system challenges and improvement aims in Europe. Through our work, leaders share and test improvements in new systems and spread successful learning at a national scale.

Through a series of virtual or in-person meetings, webinars and workgroups, recent initiatives have focused on achieving the best care at affordable cost in the face of changing demographics, increasing chronic illness, and economic challenges, including:

An escalation in health care costs and simultaneous government and regional spending cuts
An aging population
An increase in the number of service users with chronic diseases
Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Alliance Principles

To foster collaboration among members, the IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe operates under the following principles:

Accept and encourage messiness: The pathway to health care improvement is challenging; in order to progress we must accept that the way forward will be messy and encourage bold new ideas that add to the messiness.
Share assets and ideas: Everyone has something to share, and when we share freely and openly we accelerate the pace of testing, change, and improvement.
Radiate authenticity: This is a safe space for you to be your authentic self, in the spirit of well-being.
Build strong relationships: We are more generative, impactful, and bold when we work together, across silos, and between regions.
Practice “all teach, all learn”: We are all willing to teach and be taught, drawing upon the collective knowledge and experience we share as an Alliance. We learn across cultures and share knowledge across all health systems, leveraging our collective cultural identities and regional differences.
Centre on equity: Continually practice our equity guidelines as we work to advance equity as individual leaders, within our member organisations, and in partnership with local community actors.

Alliance Schedule

Opportunities to Interact Throughout the Year

The IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe meets in-person, virtually, and within work groups throughout the year to ensure members have the space and time to interact with each other, strengthen connections, and maintain the momentum of the Alliance.

In-Person Meetings

The Alliance’s two in-person meetings are crafted to allow members time to learn from each other using interactive activities and different styles of presentations. Meetings often take place at member sites and include a portion of the day dedicated to reviewing local solutions that tie back to the Alliance’s work.

Ease of transportation and member sites are considered when choosing locations for in-person meetings, all of which take place in Europe. Meetings are 1.5 days in length, starting on the first day at 9:30 AM and ending on the second day at 3:00 PM to allow members to minimise time away from their home organisations.

Please download our prospectus to see additional schedule details.

All-Alliance Webinars

Workgroups

In addition to the All-Alliance activities, IHI convenes member workgroups around specific topics selected by members. In 2024–2025, the workgroup topics will be:

Staff Wellbeing Collective Impact
Creating, Leading and Sustaining a Culture of Quality working group

Each workgroup is supported by an IHI staff member and driven by members. The groups articulate their aims, set the rhythm for their connections, and share their progress during all-member webinars, workgroup specific calls, and in-person meetings.

IHI Receptions

IHI hosts joint networking receptions for members of the IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe and the IHI Leadership Alliance at these annual conferences:

IHI Forum (December in the United States)
IHI/BMJ International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare (April or May in Europe)

The IHI Leadership Alliance is a US-based collaboration of health care executives who share a goal to work with one another as well as in partnership with patients, workforces, and communities to deliver on the full promise of the IHI Triple Aim.

Cristina Serrão

Lived Experience Ambassador, NHS England

"As my work during the pandemic aligned more and more with co-production and quality improvement, I really appreciated the warm welcome from the other members of the Alliance. This sense of belonging has strengthened year on year."

Mathieu Louiset

Innovation and Improvement Officer, PAQS, Belgium

"The Alliance has shown us new projects and ways of working during sites visits and has given us opportunities to think together about health care challenges such as connecting finance and quality improvement and increasing joy in work."

Ron Agble

Director of Partnerships and Transactions, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, England

"The Alliance provides not only great ideas, focus, and constructive challenges but also a sense of community. Through the Alliance, Royal Free London has fostered other local and regional partnerships, focusing on a range of topics."

Mandy Op den Oordt

Continuous Improvement & Person-Centered Care, Zuyderland Medical Center, The Netherlands

"The Alliance gave us the opportunity to learn and connect with progressive leaders in quality improvement and many others in Europe who are facing the same challenges. Reflecting and sharing assets and ideas gives us inspiration and energy to tackle those challenges."

Need Help or Have Questions?

Contact the IHI Health Improvement Alliance Europe Team, email Andreia Cavaco (acavaco@ihi.org)

Email

Health Improvement Alliance Europe

Breadcrumb

Health Improvement Alliance Europe

Bold and Visionary Health Care Leadership

Aims and Objectives

An "All Teach, All Learn" Network

Alliance Benefits and Fees

Alliance Design and Principles

Alliance Schedule

Need Help or Have Questions?