Courses

�鶹ӳ�� Breakthrough Series College

Format:

Online & In-Person

Begins:

Oct 14, 2026

Duration:

6 Weeks**

Where:

Boston, MA

Fee:

$4,995*

Groups of 3 or more:

$4,246*

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Please review our Cancellation Policy

*Prices are listed in USD. Group prices are listed as per-person.

**Plus one year of monthly calls after

What Is the Breakthrough Series College?

The Breakthrough Series College is a hands-on course that teaches participants how to run effective Collaboratives to reduce harm and waste while putting patients, students, and clients at the center of the work. Challenges abound in health care, education, and social services, including staffing shortages, burnout, waste, and complex systems with unreliable processes. While effective solutions may exist, they rarely reach consistent implementation at the frontlines of care delivery, education, and community services. To fill this gap, �鶹ӳ�� developed the Breakthrough Series Collaborative model in 1995 to offer an improvement methodology that empowers health care, education, and social service agencies with the tools to achieve meaningful improvements in quality and efficiency.

What You Will Learn

Who Should Attend

Session Faculty

Kelly McCutcheon Adams, MSW, LICSW, is a Senior Director at the �鶹ӳ��. She is the Director of and serves on the faculty of the �鶹ӳ�� Breakthrough Series College regarding running successful collaboratives. She is currently focused on leading the �鶹ӳ�� Age-Friendly Action Community, coaching and mentoring leaders of collaboratives around the world, and grant administration. She is a medical social worker with experience in emergency department, ICU, nursing home, sub-acute rehabilitation, and hospice settings. Ms. McCutcheon Adams served on the faculty of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaboratives as well as on the faculty of the Gift of Life Institute in Philadelphia. She has a BA in political science from Wellesley College and an MSW from Boston College.

Sue Butts-Dion, s a quality improvement consultant with over 20 years of management consulting experience in health care. She successfully supports clients, including hospital systems and physician practices, in planning and implementing improvement objectives. Ms. Butts-Dion's practice areas include improvement planning, training, and group facilitation.

BTS Alumni Panel

Geoff Schierbeck, RN, is a Portfolio Liaison for Doctors of BC in Canada, a voluntary association of 14,000 physicians, residents, and medical students that aims to raise the standard of patient care in the province. Geoff serves as the Collaborative Director for the Surgical Patient Optimization Collaborative (SPOC) and is working with physicians in British Columbia to improve surgical care through quality improvement initiatives.

Juli Coleman, Ed.D, is currently the Chief of Improvement; School Networks for the CORE Districts. She leads a Network of over 40 high schools who are working together to change the life trajectories of students by transforming the 9th grade experience. Dr. Coleman coaches and builds the capacity of district and school teams on continuous improvement. She has worked in public education for over 30 years, which has spanned across K-12, regular and special education. She has worked in a variety of roles and schools including a Resource Specialist at an elementary school, Teacher on Special Assignment at a middle school, and a co-principal of a high school. Dr. Coleman has completed the Improvement Advisor course at �鶹ӳ��.

Testimonials

BTS Collaboratives address critical areas in need of improvement like maternal morbidity, heart failure, high school readiness, intimate partner violence services, suicide prevention, sepsis, homelessness, literacy, primary care access, and more. Collaboratives typically span 12-18 months, engaging 10-100 teams focused on closing the gap between current practices and evidence-based best practices to improve outcomes for patients, students, and clients.

Participants gain the practical tools and knowledge to implement sustainable solutions in their unique environments, making this program valuable for diverse professionals from multiple settings around the globe.

Making the Case: Download the to provide high-level information on the Breakthrough Series College course to your leadership.

Session Agenda

This program consists of 4 live online sessions, 1 two-day in-person sessions, and self-paced activities to be completed outside of the live sessions. Self-paced activities between sessions are required and should take no longer than five hours to complete in total across the College. The agenda for the October 2026 offering is available to download:

Continuing Education

In support of improving patient care, the �鶹ӳ�� is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the health care team.

Continuing education credits for this program are still being finalized and will be updated shortly.

The �鶹ӳ�� designates this live activity for a maximum of 28 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. This activity may also be applicable for other professions that accept AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

As a result of this program, attendees will be able to:

Operate a Collaborative improvement project to improve processes and outcomes in clinical/healthcare and other settings.
Demonstrate the ability to teach and use the Model for Improvement (in the context of Collaborative improvement projects) for clinical/healthcare and other improvement projects.

Planning Committee

Sue Butts-Dion, Improvement Advisor, �鶹ӳ��
Elena Origlio, Program Manager, �鶹ӳ��
Kelly McCutcheon Adams, LICSW, Senior Project Director, �鶹ӳ��
Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS, Vice President, �鶹ӳ��
Lauge Sokol-Hessner, MD, CPPS

Disclosure: None of the planners, presenters, or staff for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

CE Instructions

In order to be eligible for a continuing education certificate, attendees must complete the online evaluation within 30 days of the continuing education activity. After this period, you will be unable to receive a certificate.

Continuing education credits will not be awarded for non-educational activities, including (and not limited to) meals, breaks and receptions.

Already attended?

To view continuing education (CE) credits and session materials:

Click on the "My �鶹ӳ��" link on the top of this page

Once you are logged in, click on the "Credits" tab to see CE information.

Click on the "My Participation" tab and then the button that says "My Materials" to see course materials.

Fees & Scholarships

Fee:

Regular Rate: $4,995 per person
Group Rate: $4,246 per person

Organizations sending three or more people can receive a 15% Group Discount. To register a group, .

Eligible membership or scholarship discounts are automatically applied at registration.
You’ll receive a confirmation email after checkout. Your invoice will be available to print from your online profile within 24 hours.

Review �鶹ӳ�� Cancellation Policy

GSA Pricing For US Government

�鶹ӳ�� offers GSA pricing for US government employees to enroll in this educational program. For more information and pricing, see �鶹ӳ��'s .

Scholarships

�鶹ӳ�� is pleased to offer a limited number of free and 25% scholarships to assist with program registration costs for those working in:

��Ի��Ի��Գ�,  (FQHCs) that are not affiliated with a hospital  or health system �į
Critical Access Hospitals �į
Independent practices with fewer than 20 physicians �į
Hospitals with fewer than 50 beds �į
Members of  �į
501(c)(3) organization with a defined operating budget of less than $5 million, serving community-based populations �į
Ministries of Health �į
Faith-based health institutions �į 
Skilled Nursing Facilities

To apply for a scholarship, please complete the by September 28, 2026. Scholarship decisions will be announced on October 2, 2026.

All Scholarships are reviewed on an individual basis. If multiple individuals from the same organization wish to apply for a scholarship, everyone must submit an application. Group discounts are also available, see information above.

To ensure equal distribution of funds, all scholarships applications are reviewed using the same scoring criteria. All awarded amounts are final.

Logistics

Location

�鶹ӳ��
53 State Street
27th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
United States

Recommended Hotels

Need Help?

btsc@ihi.org

�鶹ӳ��

Breadcrumb

�鶹ӳ�� Breakthrough Series College

�鶹ӳ�� Breakthrough Series College

What Is the Breakthrough Series College?

Session Agenda

Continuing Education

Planning Committee

CE Instructions

Fees & ​​Scholarships

Fee:

Review �鶹ӳ�� Cancellation Policy

GSA Pricing For US Government

Scholarships

Logistics

Location

Recommended Hotels

Need Help?

Related Training

Fees & Scholarships