Patrice L. Spath, BA, ART, is a health care quality and information management specialist based in Forest Grove, Oregon. A much sought-after speaker, Ms. Spath has presented more than 350 educational programs on performance improvement, case management, patient safety improvement, clinical paths and outcomes management. She has also authored several books, video programs and journal articles on these subjects. For AHA Press she edited Clinical Paths: Tools for Outcomes Management (1994), Medical Effectiveness and Outcomes (1996), Beyond Clinical Paths: Advanced Tools for Outcomes Management (1997), and Provider Report Cards (1999). For Brown-Spath & Associates (www.brownspath.com), Ms. Spath has written several practical "how-to" books on health care quality and resource management topics.
Ms. Spath is a regular columnist for Hospital Peer Review and Hospital Case Management, newsletters published by American Health Consultants. She is also editor of The Quality Resource, the bimonthly newsletter of the Quality Management Section of the American Health Information Management Association. She served on a work group of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to assist in the development of a model for translating practice guidelines into review criteria, performance measures, and standards of quality. She was a member of the Clinical Guidelines Panel of the Veterans Health Administration and a member of the Clinical Path Work Group of the Assocation of Operating Room Nurses, Inc. In 1998 the American Health Information Management Association presented Ms. Spath with the Legacy Award for her significant contributions to the health information management profession through her writings and presentations.