9.

Quality Improvement or QI is meant to enhance the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of all businesses from
health care processes and the performance of delivering products to human resources. The improvement is achieved
using various methods, both qualitative and quantitative. Healthcare delivery is becoming more complex with the
passing of time, and there is a requirement for new and enhanced methods that will reduce costs and provide access
to new technologies.
The main idea of improvement is that, when a system remains unchanged over time and no enhancements are made,
it cannot generate better results than the ones already created. Bringing a change into the system can facilitate the
achievement of a new performance level. The inefficient parts of the structure are replaced with new inventions that
can prove to be worthy.

The quality improvement process is grounded in the following basic concepts:

Establish a culture of quality in your practice. Your practices organization, processes, and
procedures should support and be integrated with your QI efforts. This QI culture looks different
for every practice, but may include establishing dedicated QI teams, holding regular QI meetings,
or creating policies around your QI goals.
Determine and prioritize potential areas for improvement. You will need to identify and
understand the ways in which your practice could improve. Examine your patient population (e.g.,
to identify barriers to care, frequently diagnosed chronic conditions, or groups of high-risk
patients) and your practice operations (e.g., to identify management issues such as low morale,
long patient wait times, or poor communication). Or, use already established QI measures, such
as measures from the National Quality Forum(www.qualityforum.org), Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality(www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov), Meaningful Use(www.cms.gov), or
PQRS(www.cms.gov), to guide your efforts.
Collect and analyze data. Data collection and analysis lie at the heart of quality improvement.
Your data will help you understand how well your systems work, identify potential areas for
improvement, set measurable goals, and monitor the effectiveness of change. Its important to
collect baseline data before you begin a QI project, commit to regular data collection, carefully
analyze your results at the end of the project, and make decisions based on your analysis.
Communicate your results. Quality improvement does not exist in a bubble your QI efforts will
affect your staff members and your patients. As you plan and implement a QI project,
communicate your project needs, priorities, actions, and results to the entire practice, including
patients. When a project is successful, celebrate and acknowledge that success.
Commit to ongoing evaluation. Quality improvement is an ongoing process. A high-functioning
practice will strive to continually improve performance, revisit the effectiveness of interventions,
and regularly solicit patient and staff feedback.