How to Perform Quality Improvement Projects

Abstract

Safety and efficiency remain salient concerns for the US health-care system, especially in the face of growing health-care costs and morbidity from low-quality care. Current estimates suggest that more than 20% of health-care costs in the United States represent waste and low-value care, presenting numerous improvement opportunities. Although current guidelines and standards aim to address these problems, system processes and clinician behavior must also change to fill care gaps in the health-care system. Quality improvement (QI) is a systematic approach to safety or value gaps in care that uses data measured over time and then makes sequential, small changes to achieve a measurable aim. The Model for Improvement provides a general framework for approaching QI. In this review article, we describe the general approach to conducting QI studies in the health-care setting using the Model for Improvement as a guide, including identifying a problem, performing testing, measuring change, and implementing successful ideas. We also summarize common issues that QI teams face and should consider if sharing their QI work through publication. By following a systematic approach, QI teams can develop and implement interventions aimed at addressing gaps in care, thereby improving overall health-care value and safety for their patients.

Demographic, Sociocultural, and Behavioral Predictors of Modern Contraceptive Uptake Among Couples in Northern Ghana [Letter]

“…For future research, we also suggest implementing a quality improvement project to implement and measure change, such as introducing health workshops on contraception to allow participants to make better-informed decisions on contraception use. 5 Additionally, as 97% of participants in this study were Muslim, it would be useful to have a diverse demographic range to demonstrate national trends, mitigating potential religious and cultural trends in future studies.…”

Best practices for supporting and improving pharmacy resident research and quality improvement projects

“…Research has traditionally been defined as a systematic approach to answering a question that is hypothesis‐driven, or hypothesis‐generating, and leading to generalizable knowledge 3,4 . QI has been defined as “the systematic and continuous actions that lead to measurable improvement in healthcare services and the health status of targeted patient groups.” 14–16 QI projects typically use already‐existing data and may not require institutional review board (IRB) approval, improving the feasibility of project completion in 1 year. For residency programs, having some residents undertake a QI project rather than original research may be in the program's best interest, depending on the needs of the institution and the resources available, while still imparting the knowledge, skills, and attitudes important to engaging in clinical research.…”