Choose the Right QI Tool for Health Care or Daily Life

A quality improver requires a kit of essential tools to fix a problem. Experience is helpful to determine which quality improvement (QI) ... Pleasewaitwhileyouarebeingredirected... ThissiteisbestviewedwithInternetExplorerversion8orgreater.CheckyourbrowsercompatibilitymodeifyouareusingInternetExplorerversion8orgreater. LogIn/Register Extranet EducationPlatform NewsletterSignUp NewsletterSignUp Blog Careers Donate Home AboutUs Topics Education Resources Regions EngagewithIHI MyIHI Home AboutUs Vision,Mission,Values EquityIsOneofIHI'sValues History ScienceofImprovement Innovation People HowtoGetInvolved IntheNews Finances Careers Contact KnowledgeBase Topics AllTopicsA-Z COVID-19 HealthEquity ImprovementCapability JoyinWork Leadership PatientSafety Person-/Family-CenteredCare TripleAimforPopulations ValueManagement Education EducationOverview IHIForum IHIPatientSafetyCongress Conferences In-PersonTraining VirtualTraining CertifiedProfessionalinPatientSafety(CPPS) IHIOpenSchool Resources ResourcesOverview HowtoImprove Measures Changes ImprovementStories Tools Publications IHIWhitePapers AudioandVideo CaseStudies Regions RegionsOverview Africa Asia-Pacific Europe LatinAmerica MiddleEast NorthAmerica EngagewithIHI EngagewithIHIOverview CustomizedServices Initiatives MembershipPrograms FellowshipPrograms StrategicPartnerships IndustryPartnerships Blog UserGroups Blog BlogItemView PageContent Home / UserCommunities / Blog / Pages / BlogItemView ImprovementBlog BlogHome WhyItMatters Inhealthcareorinyourdailylife,QItoolscanhelpyoumakeimprovement.Thekeyischoosingtherightoneforthejob. SIGNUPFORIHIEMAILS SignUp Processing... ChoosetheRightQIToolforHealthCareorDailyLife ByKendraNjoku|Thursday,September13,2018 Aqualityimproverrequiresakitofessentialtoolstofixaproblem.Experienceishelpfultodeterminewhichqualityimprovement(QI)tooltouseforwhatpurpose,howtouseeachone,andwhentousethem.QIprojectsneedaplanningphaseandanimplementationphase.Luckily,therearemultipletoolsinanimprover’stoolkitthatcanaddressthemanyquestionsandchallengesthatcommonlyariseinbothphasesofaproject.ThetablebelowshowsasnapshotofsomeoftheimportantQItoolsatthedisposalofanyimprover,whethertheyareaqualityimprovementnewbieoranexpert.ThesetoolsarepulledtogetherintheIHIQualityImprovementEssentialsToolkit.TheToolkitprovidesdetailsonhoweachtoolshouldbeused,withexamplesandtemplatesfordeeperunderstanding. Category Tool TypicalUseofTool StrategicPlanning DriverDiagram Visualizesa team’stheoryofthekeydriversorcontributorstoachievingaprojectaim. Aroadmapforachievingtheoverallprojectaim. ProjectPlanningForm Enablesa teamtosystematicallyplanthedifferentcomponentsthatresultsinafull pictureviewoftheproject,strengtheningmonitoringandevaluation. ViewingSystemsandProcesses FlowChart/ProcessMap Visual displayofconnectedstepsinaprocessthatenablesanalysisfor improvement,andstandardizationofaprocess. FailureModesandEffectsAnalysis(FMEA) Systematic andproactiveanalysisofwhereharmmayoccurinaprocess,anddevising improvementstopreventtheseharms. OrganizingInformation CauseandEffectDiagram/FishboneDiagram Organizes anddisplaysmultifactorialrootcausescontributingtoaneffectoroutcome, therebyenablingidentificationofchangeideasforimprovement. DocumentingTestsofChange PDSAWorksheet Documenting plans,actions,andquantitativeandqualitativelearningsfromtestsof change. UnderstandingVariation RunChartsandControlCharts Study variationindataovertime;analyzestheimpactofchangeideason performance;differentiatesbetweencommonandspecialcausevariation. ParetoChart Identifies thevitalfewcontributorstoaproblemwheretargetingimprovementwould leadtothegreatestimpact. Histogram Displays variationincontinuousdatathataidsdataanalysis. UnderstandingRelationships ScatterDiagram Helps determineanycause-and-effectrelationshipbetweentwovariables. AdaptedfromTheImprovementHandbook,August2007EditionandtheIHI'sQIEssentialToolkitFormanyimprovementteams,thechoicetodevelopadriverdiagramisessentialforplanningaroadmaptoachievetheiroverallprojectaim.Butitisimportanttonotethatusingadriverdiagram—likeusingotherQItools—ispartofaniterativeprocessandcanbeadaptedasmorelearningsarisefromtheimplementationoftheproject.Forexample,whatwasbelievedtobeasecondarydriveratthebrainstormingdesignmeetingatthestartofaprojectmaylaterbedesignatedasaprimarydriverafterreviewingdataorexperienceinthefield.SampleDriverDiagramAteaminNigeriastarteddevelopingtheircontenttheoryonwhatwouldleadtoareductioninobstetriccomplicationswiththeprimaryandsecondarydriverslistedabove.Astheprojectprogressed,andtheteamconductedmultipletestsofchanges,datareviews,andclinicalmeetings,theyrealizedthatUseofDataforImprovementwasastrongerfactorthantheyoriginallyanticipated.Astheymadechangestoimprovetheirdataquality,introducedadatadeepdivetotheirclinicalmeetings,andusedvisualmanagementboardstokeeptheirperformanceaburningplatform,thedrivetoaddressotherprimaryandsecondarydriversundertheirinfluencegrew.Thisledtoimprovementintheiroutcomemeasure.UseofDataforImprovementbecameaprimarydriverinanewdriverdiagram.Thelessonthisteamlearnedwasnevertoleavetheirdriverdiagram(oranyothertool)castinstone.Subjectmatterandprofoundknowledgeontheirtopicincreasedandthisledtothereviewandmodificationoftheirinitialtheories.ChoosingQIToolstoImproveDailyLivingOneofmyfavoritethingsasanimproverisusingQItoolsinmyeverydaylife.Hereareafewexamplesoftoolsthathavehelpedmeorganizeprocessesinmyhome:Flowchart—TheAfterSchoolFlowchartwasahugehelpinmakingsuremygirlswenttobedontimeevenwhenIwasawayonaworktrip.Aflowchart(sometimescalledaprocessmap)canbeagreatimprovementtooltousewithchildrenbecauseithelpsthemvisualizestepsinaprocess.Ibelievehavingthemlistalltheactivities,dothewriting,andputthecharttogetherdefinitelyhelpedwiththeiradherencetotheprocess.Thiskindof“frontline”leadershiphelpsengageanyimprovementteam.FishboneDiagram—Weusedafishbonediagramtodrilldowntothemultiplerootcausescontributingtowhyweoftenranoutofmygirls’favoritebreakfastfoods,eggsandHoneyBunchesofOatscereal.Usingthetoolhelpedusidentifychangingthequantitywestockedandfrequencyofgroceryrunsaswaystopreventteary-eyedmornings.AimStatements—Havingthekidsuseaimstatementstoidentifytheiracademicgoalsandhowtoattainthemservedasgreatmotivationforthemallthroughtheschoolyear.Inadditiontopersonaloutcomes,wediscussedthejoyoflotsofgoodiesfromproudgrandparents,uncles,andauntieswheneachyeartheyachievetheiraims!AsyouexplorethemanyQItoolsavailable,don’tbeoverwhelmedbythequantityoftoolsintheQItoolkit.Instead,seekdeeperinsightsintothewaysandsituationsinwhichthesetoolsarebestused.FeelfreeintheusercommentssectionbelowtoshareyourinsightsaboutyourfavoritetoolsoraskquestionsaboutanyQItool. KendraNjokuisamemberofIHI’sfaculty.Youmayalsobeinterestedin:QualityImprovementEssentialsToolkit5StepsforCreatingValueThroughProcessMappingandObservationHowCanQIConceptsHelpinYourDailyLife? Tags:QualityImprovement,ImprovementCapability,ImprovementMethodsandTools,Africa SignUp Processing... LearnMoreinthesePrograms first < > last ChiefQualityOfficerProfessionalDevelopmentProgram BeginsJanuary12,2022|Onlineandinperson Healthcareorganizationsneeddedicatedleaderstoachievesystem-widequality.Willyoubeoneofthem?Ifyoualreadyhavetop-levelresponsibilityforqualityimprovement,attendthisnewprofessionaldevelopmentcoursefromIHI. ImprovementAdvisorProfessionalDevelopmentProgram BeginsFebruary17,2022|Boston,MA TheInstituteforHealthcareImprovement(IHI),inconjunctionwithAssociatesin ProcessImprovement(API),offerstheImprovementAdvisorProfessionalDevelopmentProgramtohelpindividualsinthiscriticalrolebuildandhonehigh-levelimprovementskills.Thisrichly-packed,10-monthprogramisan“allteach,alllearn”experience. PatientSafetyExecutiveDevelopmentProgram March17,2022|Boston,MA Withtoday’sshrinkinghealthcarebudgetsandgrowingfocusoncosts,ithasneverbeenmoreimportanttohavearobustsafetyplan.Maintainingapowerfulsafetyprogramisessentialtothelong-termhealthofyourdepartment,organization,orhealthcaresystem—andtoensuringthatyourpatientsreceivethesafeandreliablecaretheydeserve.Topositionyourorganizationforsuccess,attendIHI’sPatientSafetyExecutiveDevelopmentProgram. AverageContentRating (0user) Pleaseenteracomment. Pleaselogintorateorcommentonthiscontent. UserComments ShowMoreComments... Loading... YouareabouttoreportaviolationofourTermsofUse.Allreports arestrictlyconfidential. Reason*: SelectOne Containsprofanityorviolence Spam Defamatory Illegal/Unlawful CopyrightViolation Other Pleaseselectareasonforthisreport. AddaNote: Yourcommentsweresubmittedsuccessfully. Therewasanerrorreportingyourcomplaint. ​​