Quality improvement idea generation
Quality improvement is used in healthcare settings nationally and internationally to improve safety, effectiveness and patient experiences. Quality improvement methodologies such as the Model for Improvement allows for changes to be approached in small plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles. These cycles help identify, define and diagnose problems in complex healthcare environments, and develop solutions and make improvements using a systemic approach.
The model includes 3 questions to guide improvement:
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- How will we know that a change is an improvement?
- What changes can we make that will result in improvement?
Answering these questions will help you understand the problem you are trying to solve. You can then develop your ideas for change. These ideas can be tested through small PDSA cycles to determine the effectiveness of the changes..
The example below applies the Model for Improvement to a scenario where the Paediatric Sepsis Pathway is used as part of standard practice however there is an opportunity to review the processes for collecting blood cultures.
The Clinical Excellence Queensland Project Management Framework (initiate, plan, deliver, sustain) can also support change management processes and continuous quality improvement.
Information about quality improvement
- CHQ Quality Activity on a Page (QH staff only)
- CHQ Imagination Hub (QH staff only)
- Clinical Excellence Queensland Project Management Framework (QH staff only)
- Prosci ADKAR Model to Change Management (PDF)
- Paediatric Sepsis ADKAR model (PDF) (QH staff only)
National and international sepsis toolkits
- NSW Clinical Excellence Commission online Sepsis Toolkit
- Better Safer Care Victoria Implementing an adult sepsis pathway toolkit
- Child Health British Columbia Sepsis Toolkit