The purpose of the CHC (Conference for Health Care) is for health care workers within and outside Japan to share each facilities' approaches, discuss from a global point of view, learn new ideas, link positive aspects of each approach, gain more Kaizen experience and ensure the spiral-up of their own "Medical Quality Management".

CHC is an annual conference which was started in 2013 by Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) (Seattle, United States of America) which is a leading hospital in the world in hospital quality management, and Aso Iizuka Hospital (AIH) (Iizuka City, Fukuoka Prefecture) which is a pioneering hospital in Japan by adopting TQM (Total Quality Management) and approaching Kaizen activities.

In the 1st CHC in 2013, VMMC and AIH presented and discussed by comparing their own cases of quality management and Kaizen systems. These presentations were shared among about 70 participants from all around Japan. (Link to the 1st CHC outline)

In the 2nd CHC in 2014, the number of participants were more than double, with about 150 attending. Also, not only from VMMC and AIH, there were 6 presenters from hospitals and universities from within and outside Japan. (Link to the 2nd CHC outline)

We want CHC to be an opportunity for the opening of a new era in quality management. We hope as many presentations and opinions from participants as possible will lead to the development of medical quality management and the continuing improvement in organizations from Japan and furthermore, the world.