Posted by Sarah Myers on April 22, 2014
Recently, the ICN Exchange needed to undergo maintenance unexpectedly for two days. Some people in the ImproveCareNow Network probably noticed it more than others. I know that as someone who has come to rely on it to keep up with what centers are working on and looking at, I was keenly aware of its absence. So you can imagine how thrilling it was when it came back online!
Now that the Exchange is back up and running (and better than ever - with plans and resources in place to prevent such outages in the future!) it occurs to me that even a quick glance at the Exchange clearly shows the richness, diversity, vibrancy—and the multifaceted dynamics of our community.
When I glanced at the Exchange today this is what I saw:
ImproveCareNow centers, like Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, jumping in and collaborating with parents, patients, and other centers to make sure that we are all learning together!
Opportunities that highlight how much we really, really want and need to learn from each other so we can collaborate even better!
Multidisciplinary partners, like the RD group, are staying connected with each other and getting organized so they can 
take on projects that will build their visibility and leadership in ImproveCareNow.
ImproveCareNow QI teams are becoming even more accountable and transparent in their day-to-day QI work.
Parent Partners are setting their 90 day goals, tracking their progress and keeping the Network informed!
And finally, amazing patients around the country are teaching us more and more every day.
And that is just a quick glance! So thank you to everyone who has been a part of helping us build this vibrant community. I, for one, can’t wait to see where the community goes next!
The ICN Exchange is an internal knowledge-sharing platform that the ImproveCareNow Network uses to communicate, collaborate and innovate across the miles. Clinicians, Researchers, Patients, Families and Improvers are able to log into the ICN Exchange and share seamlessly and steal shamelessly! The ICN Exchange has enabled ImproveCareNow to extend our “all teach, all learn” collaborative approach to medicine far beyond our monthly webinars and twice-annual Learning Session. It allows us to identify ideas and best practices in pediatric IBD care and introduce them into the care delivery process much faster—improving care for our patients now.