How are EASO COMs using quality-improvement methods to refine and strengthen the delivery of effective, person-centred obesity care?
Nine EASO Collaborating Centres for Obesity Management (COMs) across Italy, Portugal, Israel and Spain are taking part in an 18-month, multicountry Healthcare Improvement Initiative focused on strengthening person-centred care through quality improvement in specialist obesity services. The initiative is delivered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in collaboration with EASO and Lilly, with funding provided by Lilly.
Supporting practical improvements in obesity care
Throughout 2026, expert quality-improvement coaches have worked with multidisciplinary COM teams to: review their current approaches to delivering obesity services; identify local priorities where services could be improved; and develop practical changes to enhance processes in response. As the initiative progresses, teams will continue to test and refine these changes in practice, using data from their services to understand what is working and where additional refinements could help further strengthen practice.
COM teams and expert coaches are currently focusing on enhancing their approaches to:
- Clinical staging of obesity
- Shared decision-making with patients
- Behavioural support
- Supporting continuation of treatment
- Clinical care pathway development
In-person learning sessions have convened clinicians, multidisciplinary team members, service leaders and quality-improvement coaches to examine local priorities and agree on practical changes to test within each service. Regular coaching and shared learning allow COM teams to exchange experiences and consider how approaches used in other centres could be adapted to their own services and healthcare settings.
Teams at Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Federico II, Hospital CUF Descobertas and Clinica del Lavoro L Devoto welcomed IHI colleagues for in-person learning sessions.
Experiences from a participating COM
Dr Violeta Moizé, dietitian at the Obesity and Diabetes Unit at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona – a participating Spanish COM led by Professor Ana de Hollanda – shared her experience of the initiative.
Dr Moizé, since joining the Healthcare Improvement Initiative, what has changed in the way your team approaches obesity care?
The initiative has helped us identify unmet needs and gaps in our existing care pathways more clearly, particularly where different components of care are not yet fully connected. It has also encouraged us to move from identifying these gaps to prioritising concrete areas for improvement and defining actions to address them.
What has been most useful about the format of the initiative?
The combination of coaching and peer-to-peer exchange with other COMs has been particularly valuable, providing both an external perspective and practical ideas that can be adapted to our own setting. Sharing experiences, challenges and solutions with other centres has helped us maintain momentum, challenge our usual ways of working and turn ideas into concrete improvements.
Thank you, Violeta, and to your team for participating!
The IHI team visited the Obesity and Diabetes Unit at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.
Future opportunities for COMs to participate
EASO will share information with the COMs network as further opportunities to participate become available.
COM teams from Hospital CUF Santarém, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Rabin Medical Center’s Hasharon Hospital and Beilinson Campus, and Hospital Sanitas La Zarzuela also participate – supporting valuable exchange.
EASO thanks all participating COM teams for the expertise and commitment they have contributed to this important initiative.
The Multicountry Healthcare Improvement Initiative is delivered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in collaboration with EASO and Lilly, with funding provided by Lilly.
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