What Institute for Health Care Improvement does

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a global nonprofit healthcare improvement organization founded in 1988 by Dr. Donald Berwick and colleagues, incorporated in Michigan and headquartered at 53 State Street, 18th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts. IHI develops and disseminates improvement science methodologies, including the Model for Improvement, PDSA rapid-cycle testing, and a suite of proprietary frameworks (Triple Aim, Quintuple Aim, Psychology of Change, Framework for Spread, 4Ms for Age-Friendly Care, Breakthrough Series Collaborative). It operates a platform-plus-modules architecture combining expert consulting, accredited learning (IHI Open School, professional certifications, Fellowship Program), collaborative learning networks (Joy in Work, Age-Friendly Health Systems, Collective Action Collaborative), an annual IHI Forum conference, and a content library of white papers, toolkits, podcasts, and improvement topic areas covering patient safety, health equity, workforce well-being, maternal and infant health, climate and health, and AI in healthcare.

IHI generates revenue across five streams: education and training programs (courses, certifications, fellowship), expert consulting services to health systems and organizations, events and conferences (chiefly the IHI Forum), publications and resources, and grants and foundation funding, with major grants including $13.5 million from The John A. Hartford Foundation in 2026 and prior funding from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation and CMS. Pricing spans freemium white papers and Open School content, subscription/credentialed learning, project-based consulting, and grant-funded collaborative programs. The organization serves health systems, hospitals, clinicians, healthcare executives, community health organizations, state health departments, and care settings focused on older adults and maternal/infant health, reaching 8,000+ organizations across 62 countries and 6 continents. Leadership includes President and CEO Sylvia Trent-Adams, COO Melissa Panagides-Busch, President Emeritus Donald Berwick, and President Emerita Maureen Bisognano.

Name

Institute for Health Care Improvement

Legal name

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Website

https://ihi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a Boston-headquartered, Michigan-incorporated nonprofit founded in 1988 that advances global healthcare quality improvement through improvement science frameworks, expert consulting, accredited learning programs, and collaborative networks serving 8,000+ health systems, clinicians, and community organizations across 62 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Quality Improvement Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Monitoring, Evaluation, Performance Management & Quality Improvement (HLAJAMAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Healthcare Outcomes & Real-World Evidence (RWE) Analytics (BPAHALAN)

Keywords

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety consulting
• Improvement science training
• Healthcare leadership development
• Clinical education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Education and Training Programs: IHI offers accredited learning including online courses, certifications, fellowship programs, and professional development for individuals and teams. Programs are available online, on demand, and in-person with continuing education credits.
2. Consulting Services: Expert-led consulting engagements providing strategic advisory services to healthcare organizations for quality improvement, patient safety, health equity, and organizational transformation.
3. Events and Conferences: Annual IHI Forum and other events providing learning, networking, and professional development opportunities for healthcare leaders.
4. Publications and Resources: White papers, tools, publications, and resources available for download, including frameworks and best practice guides.
5. Grants and Foundation Funding: IHI receives significant grant funding from foundations such as The John A. Hartford Foundation ($13.5 million grant) and Johnson & Johnson Foundation to advance specific healthcare improvement initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

IHI is a nonprofit health care improvement organization that provides expert-led consulting, accredited learning programs (online courses, certifications, fellowships), and collaborative learning networks to help health care organizations improve quality, safety, equity, and outcomes. Its offerings are grounded in improvement science methodologies and proprietary frameworks (Triple Aim, Quintuple Aim, Psychology of Change, Framework for Spread, 4Ms), and are delivered through consulting engagements, the IHI Open School platform, the IHI Forum annual conference, online communities, and a resource library.

Product overview

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) offers a comprehensive portfolio of health care improvement products and services organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering includes expert-led consulting services, accredited learning programs (IHI Open School, Certifications, Fellowship Program), and collaborative networks (IHI Communities, IHI Forum). IHI provides extensive intellectual property through its Library containing tools, white papers, publications, and podcasts (including the Turn on the Lights Podcast). Key frameworks include the Triple Aim, Quintuple Aim, Psychology of Change Framework, Framework for Spread, and Model for Improvement. The organization runs major initiatives including Age-Friendly Health Systems and the National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety. IHI organizes its expertise into improvement topics covering AI in health care, Health Equity, Patient Safety, Population Health, Maternal and Infant Health, Workforce Well-Being, Workforce Safety, Whole System Quality, Climate and Health, and Improvement Capability. These products and services work together to help health care organizations advance equity, improve safety, reduce costs, and achieve better outcomes through evidence-based improvement science.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IHI Open School: Self-paced online courses to build improvement knowledge and skills
• IHI Forum
• Turn on the Lights Podcast
• Age-Friendly Health Systems
• IHI Collective Action Collaborative

Products and services

• IHI Open School Self-paced online courses designed to build improvement knowledge and skills for health care professionals, offering continuing education credits and professional development.
• IHI Forum Annual conference bringing together health care leaders worldwide to share learning and strategies for health care improvement and transformation.
• IHI Health and Health Care Consulting Expert-led consulting services that help organizations create a culture of safety and continuous improvement through strategic advisory services, implementation support, and continuous improvement programs.
• IHI Certifications Professional certification programs designed to build skills for leading meaningful health care improvement, available online, on demand, and in-person.
• IHI Fellowship Program A fellowship program offering advanced training and leadership development for health care professionals committed to driving improvement.
• IHI Open School Courses Self-paced online courses for building improvement knowledge and skills with continuing education credits, available online, on demand, and in-person.
• IHI Communities Online communities connecting health care professionals to share learning, exchange strategies, and collaborate on driving improvement.
• IHI Events Conferences, webinars, and learning experiences designed to advance quality, safety, and health care improvement for individuals and teams.
• Turn on the Lights Podcast A podcast hosted by Dr. Philip McAdoo that brings clarity and humanity to pressing issues in health and health care, featuring conversations with clinicians, policy leaders, patients, and community advocates.
• Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative A national initiative focused on providing evidence-based care to older adults using the 4Ms framework (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, Mobility), with a goal of reaching 14 million older adults annually by 2030.
• National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety A national initiative to advance patient safety across health systems through comprehensive guidance and implementation resources.

Quantifiable outcome

• 14 million older adults to receive age-friendly care annually by 2030
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2026NCQA is a co-recipient of the $13.5 million John A. Hartford Foundation grant to expand age-friendly care across health systems and Medicare Advantage plans.
• University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2026UCSF is a co-recipient of the $13.5 million John A. Hartford Foundation grant to advance age-friendly health systems movement toward national scale.
• Gold Coast Health PlanmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2026Partnership to run the RISE Grant Program's second year, offering one-year grants of up to $400,000 to help Medi-Cal members navigate new eligibility requirements. Program funds outreach, re-enrollment assistance, and navigation services in Ventura County.
• BattellecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2026IHI partners with Battelle, a CMS certified consensus-based entity, to support the Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM). Collaboration brings quality improvement expertise and equity lens to national quality measurement processes, engaging 1,200+ members in reviewing and endorsing healthcare quality measures.
• Angels on Call HomecarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 November 2025Angels on Call Homecare was recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System by IHI, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and other partners for implementing the 4Ms care framework across services in New York, improving care quality, engagement, safety, and client satisfaction for older adults.
• CMS Partnership for PatientscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025IHI acted as national improvement advisor for this campaign, one of the largest patient safety campaigns in US history, involving thousands of hospitals and producing over 2 million fewer harms and nearly $20 billion in savings.
• AHRQ National Nursing Home COVID-19 Action NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025IHI partnership with AHRQ ECHO reached 9,058 nursing homes across all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico with a 16-week training and mentorship program for evidence-based safety and infection prevention practices.
• The Wright Center for Community HealthmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 August 2025The Wright Center joined IHI's Collective Action Collaborative, a national initiative integrating social care into healthcare delivery. Dr. Manju Thomas leads a cross-departmental project team including partner organizations to enhance resource screenings for patients under 21.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA): Independent nonprofit that accredits and measures quality in healthcare; co-recipient with IHI of the $13.5M Hartford Foundation grant to scale age-friendly care, making it the closest peer on mission and funding base.
• Joint Commission: Largest healthcare accreditation body in the US; comparable in setting quality and patient safety standards that hospitals must adopt, directly overlapping IHI's quality-improvement mission.
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): US federal agency advancing healthcare quality and safety research; IHI has been a direct implementation partner (e.g., AHRQ National Nursing Home COVID-19 Action Network) on patient-safety improvement.

Broad incumbents

• Press Ganey: Large healthcare performance improvement and patient experience analytics firm; competes with IHI's patient safety and workforce well-being offerings with a more technology-driven delivery model.
• Vizient: Healthcare performance improvement company serving large hospital systems; overlaps with IHI's enterprise consulting and quality improvement practice for hospital clients.
• Premier Inc. Healthcare improvement company with collaborative networks of hospitals focused on quality, safety, and cost reduction — directly comparable to IHI's collaborative learning model.
• Huron Consulting Group (Studer Group): Global consulting firm whose Studer Group focuses on healthcare leadership and workforce performance improvement; competes with IHI's Joy in Work and leadership development offerings.
• American Hospital Association (AHA): National membership organization for hospitals and health systems; shares IHI's audience of hospital quality leaders and overlaps on workforce safety and health equity initiatives.

Emerging players

• Health Catalyst: Data-and-analytics platform for healthcare improvement; competes with IHI's improvement science approach using software-led measurement and outcomes analytics.

Others

• Battelle: CMS-certified consensus-based entity and IHI partner on the Partnership for Quality Measurement; adjacent ecosystem participant in national healthcare quality measurement rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theihi
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@IHIvideo
• Facebookfacebook.com/ihiopenschool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ihi
• Instagraminstagram.com/theihi

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Institute for Health Care Improvement