AACE Advancing Immunization Quality Improvement Communication Platform-AACE Adult Immunization Project QI Basics Staff Training

Pdf Summary

Improving quality is crucial for various reasons, including enhancing patient outcomes and experience, improving provider satisfaction, and reducing healthcare costs. The Model for Improvement, developed by Associates in Process Improvement, consists of three key questions: what are we trying to improve, how will we know if the change is an improvement, and what changes can be made to lead to improvement? The PDSA Cycle, which stands for Plan-Do-Study-Act, is a guide used to test changes in real work settings and determine if they result in improvement.<br /><br />To start the improvement process, a problem within the system needs to be identified, and a team must be formed to address it. The process should be understood, and a SMART aim should be developed: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, and timely. In prioritizing problems, it is worth noting that 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes.<br /><br />Implementing the quality improvement (QI) intervention involves planning the test, collecting data, and making predictions about what will happen. The test should be run on a small scale, problems and unexpected observations should be documented, and data should be collected and analyzed. The results are then compared to the predictions, and the team reflects on what they have learned.<br /><br />Based on the findings, a plan is created for the next step: adapt (make modifications and run another test), adopt (test the change on a larger scale), or abandon. Once the change has been refined through several PDSA cycles, it is ready for implementation on a broader scale. Implementation involves permanently changing the way work is done and may affect documentation, policies, hiring, training, and other aspects of the organization's infrastructure.<br /><br />References and resources mentioned include the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The IHI website offers a recommended resource called the Quality Essentials Toolkit, which provides further guidance on improving quality.

Asset Caption

Here is the Presentation provided by Dr. Izuora to use with your staff to help them understand what a QI project is and how to conduct one.

Keywords

improving quality

patient outcomes

provider satisfaction

healthcare costs

Model for Improvement

PDSA Cycle

SMART aim

data analysis

implementation

IHI