Expert Reviews

Developing and Executing Quality Improvement Projects (concept, methods, and evaluation)

Address correspondence to: Donald S. Likosky, PhD, Section Head, Section of Health Services Research and Quality, Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. E-mail: likosky@med.umich.edu

Received: 27 September 2013
Accepted: 7 January 2014

Abstract

Continuous quality improvement, quality assurance, cycles of change—these words of often used to express the process of using data to inform and improve clinical care. Although many of us have been exposed to theories and practice of experimental work (e.g., randomized trial), few of us have been similarly exposed to the science underlying quality improvement. Through the lens of a single-center quality improvement study, this article exposes the reader to methodology for conducting such studies. The reader will gain an understanding of these methods required to embark on such a study.