Your Role in Quality Improvement

THE CHALLENGE: Healthcare quality improvement (QI) practices have changed drastically since Osler’s times; many new concepts and ideas have been introduced, leading to a change in perspective. While it was once thought that only physicians could determine quality, that view has been replaced by a multidimensional approach.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Many people assume QI occurs in a straightforward, linear fashion: If you continue what you are doing, eventually everyone else is doing it too. Although adoption of most new practices, including QI, is non-linear, QI adoption does follow a fairly predictable pattern. However, QI in healthcare doesn’t happen overnight. For that reason, QI leaders must determine how their organizations can hit QI goals more rapidly and sustainably.

Consider some of these factors and their influence on QI process adoption:

• Diffusion. The rate of diffusion for any QI initiative varies based on those working within your organization. Consider developing strategies to introduce your QI efforts in different ways to reach varying audiences and help increase diffusion rates.

• Sensemaking. How people make sense of a new process or procedure is called sensemaking. Improving the speed of this process by providing guidance or supplemental training can help combat our natural aversion toward change. QI leaders must master the ability to examine complex systems and make them easier to understand for the people they serve if processes are to be adopted and implemented more rapidly.

• Champions. Within any organization, the adoption rate of a QI initiative varies based on the ratio of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Finding your champions early by targeting those who fall within the early majority and late majority categories can be beneficial. Improvements cannot be made alone; partnering with champions can help speed the adoption rate, especially if those individuals are in a position of influence.

THE BOTTOM LINE: QI implementation can be an arduous undertaking, which is why it is no surprise that at times healthcare organizations may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of pursuing these efforts. Improving your awareness of QI and taking steps to understand better which strategies may lead to future success can be advantageous for you and your organization as you plan for the future.

Adapted from Transforming Healthcare Through Quality Improvement, part of the American Association for Physician Leadership’s facilitated online curriculum. More information about our educational offerings can be found at physicianleaders.org/education.