The position allows Dr. Massoud to expand his dream to “enable many systems around the world to leverage the knowledge and resources of the HCI Project to make significant changes in the quality of health care for the populations they serve.” He is internationally renowned as an expert in the field of health care improvement and spread. He returned to URC after three years with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the organization which designed the health care Improvement Collaborative approach known as the IHI Breakthrough Series.

IHI originally developed the approach in the 1990s for use by highly sophisticated health care systems typical of those in the United States and United Kingdom. In 1998, Dr. Massoud, then Associate Director of URC’s Quality Assurance Project, pioneered the use of the methodology in a resource-constrained environment, applying the collaborative approach in pilot sites in the Russian Federation. The program was subsequently scaled up to cover two oblasts (regions) of Russia, and URC went on to apply the approach in over a dozen countries. URC is now looked to as a leader in applying the collaborative approach in developing countries throughout the world.

Dr. Massoud notes:

“Only a few years ago, URC began to test this new collaborative approach and had neither an understanding of how successful it would be nor how enthusiastic developing countries would be in adopting it, but we had a sense that it could prove very successful. Since then, URC has implemented the approach in 15 countries, addressing heath care issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and care, pediatric hospital improvement, and maternal and newborn care. We believe we really may be on the edge of a breakthrough that could contribute significantly to efforts to end the debilitating cycle of illness and poverty in developing countries.”

A physician and public health specialist, Dr. Massoud has worked to improve health care in many contexts and countries. As Senior Vice President of IHI, he was responsible for overseeing strategic partnerships with key customers, including Kaiser Permanente, the National Health Service Institute for Innovation and Improvement in England, and the US Department of Health and Human Services Indian Health Service. He previously served as URC’s Vice President and Director of its Quality & Performance Institute.

Dr. Massoud has contributed to programs managed by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and UNICEF to improve health care services in low- and middle-income countries, including Morocco, Vietnam, the Republic of Srpska, and Uzbekistan. He founded and for several years led the Palestinian health care quality improvement effort and was a founding member and chair of the Quality Management Program for Health Care Organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. Early in his career, he was a Medical Officer with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. He and his wife Karma are the proud parents of two sons, Fares, age 9, and Rami, age 4.