Quality Improvement

• Quality Improvement – General

  Baldrige National Quality Program

  The Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987 to recognize U.S. organizations for their achievements in quality and performance and to raise awareness about the importance of quality and performance excellence as a competitive edge. It is given by the U.S. President to businesses, education, health care and nonprofit organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results.

  Available at: http://www.quality.nist.gov/index.html. Accessed Mar. 12, 2008.

  Keating EK, Oliva R, Repenning NP, Rockart S, Sterman JD. Overcoming the Improvement Paradox. European Management Journal. 1999;17: 120-134.

  Available at: http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/EMJPaper.pdf.

  Gupta P. Failures Are valuable and a path to learning [Quality Digest Web site]. 2007.

  Available at: http://qualitydigest.com/IQedit/QDarticle_text.lasso?articleid=12465. Accessed Jan. 24, 2008.

• Quality Improvement – General Health

  Agency for Health Care Research and Quality

  As the country's leading Federal agency for research on health care quality, costs, outcomes, and patient safety, the AHRQ works with the public and private sectors developing strategies to strengthen quality measurement and improvement.

  Available at: http://www.ahrq.gov. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  Building a Mind-Set of Service Excellence

  This article by Paul Plsek offers a physician guide to assessing and improving the level of service your practice is currently providing. From Fam Pract Manag. 2002 ;9:41-46.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20020400/41buil.html#box_d. Accessed Mar. 14, 2008.

  Improvement Methods

  This section of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Web site offers change concepts, measures, resources, improvement stories, and downloadable tools to help you make improvement successful in your organization.

  Available at: http://www.ihi.org/IHI/Topics/Improvement/ImprovementMethods. Accessed Mar. 17, 2008.

  The Institute of Medicine

  This non-profit organization offers independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public on matters of biomedical science, medicine, and health.

  Available at: http://www.iom.edu. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  Medicare Quality Improvement Community (MedQIC)

  MedQIC supports Quality Improvement Organizations and providers in finding, using, and sharing quality improvement resources. There is a section that focuses on issues in physician offices and offers numerous useful tools and a monthly newsletter.

  Available at: http://medqic.org/dcs/ContentServer?pagename=Medqic/MQPage/Homepage. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  Medicare Quality Improvement Organization Program Priorities

  This document describes the national quality improvement projects led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It includes objectives, clinical background, measure specifications, public health importance, opportunity for improvement, and literature references for each setting. CMS selected these topics based on their public health importance and the feasibility of measuring and improving quality. All are key causes of morbidity and mortality among the Medicare population and the United States population as a whole.

  Available at: http://medqic.org/dcs/ContentServer?cid=1097592510511 &pagename=Medqic%2FMQLiterature%2FLiteratureTemplate&c=MQLiterature. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  National Quality Forum

  The National Quality Forum is a public-private partnership working to promote a common approach to measuring health care quality and fostering system-wide capacity for quality improvement.

  Available at: http://www.qualityforum.org. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  Physician Quality Reporting Initiative

  In December 2006, the President signed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 authorizing the establishment of a physician quality reporting system by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Called the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, the program offers a financial incentive for eligible professionals to participate in a voluntary quality reporting program.

  Available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  Medical Professionalism Project members. Medical professionalism in the new millennium: a physician charter. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:243-246.

  Available at: http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/136/3/243.pdf.

  Schuster RJ, Terwoord NA, Tasosa J. Changing physician practice behavior to measure and improve clinical outcomes. Am J Med Qual. 2006;21:394-400.

  Available at: http://ajm.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/21/6/394.

  Duffy FD, Holmboe ES. Self-assessment in lifelong learning and improving performance in practice: physician know thyself. JAMA. 2006;296:1137-1139.

  Available at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/296/9/1137.

  Garrett KE. The Measurement of Health Care Performance: A Primer from the CMSS. Lake Bluff, IL: Council of Medical Specialty Societies; 2007.

  Available at: http://www.cmss.org/images/Primer.pdf.

  Langley GJ, Nolan KM, Norman CL, Provost LP, Nolan TW. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass; 1996.

  Garrett KE. The Measurement of Health Care Performance: A Primer from the CMSS. Lake Bluff, IL: Council of Medical Specialty Societies; 2007.

  Available at: http://www.cmss.org/images/Primer.pdf.

• Quality Improvement – Cardiology Resources

  Practice Management

  This section of the American College of Cardiology Web site offers education, tools, and resources vital to the success of a medical group practice.

  Available at: http://www.acc.org/advocacy/pmr/management/management.htm. Accessed Mar. 17, 2008.

  Spertus JA, Eagle KA, Krumholz HM, Mitchell KR, Normand ST. ACC/AHA methodology for the selection and creation of performance measures for quantifying the quality of cardiovascular care: a report of the ACC/AHA Task Force on Performance Measures. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;45:1147–56.

  Available at: http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/jac/article/PIIS0735109705005449/abstract.

• Quality Improvement / PDCA Cycle – Clinical Resources

  Building a Mind-Set of Service Excellence

  This article by Paul Plsek offers a physician guide to assessing and improving the level of service your practice is currently providing. From Fam Pract Manag. 2002;9:41-46.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20020400/41buil.html#box_d. Accessed Mar. 14, 2008.

  Practice Improvement Digest tool

  This booklet from the MedQIC Web site (Medicare Quality Improvement Community) distills and sequences methods needed by clinical office practices to improve efficiency, patient satisfaction, and quality of care.

  Available at: http://medqic.org/dcs/ContentServer?cid=1110810546116 &pagename=Medqic%2FMQTools%2FToolTemplate&c=MQTools. Accessed Jan. 23, 2008.

  Willis DR. Making every minute count: tools to improve office efficiency. Fam Pract Manag. 2005;12:61-66.

  Using proven techniques borrowed from the business world, you can eliminate bottlenecks and waste in your practice.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20050400/61maki.html#box_b

  Torrey B. Getting the most from your phone system. Fam Pract Manag. 2001;8:21-26.

  Looking at your system through the eyes of a patient will help you understand what you need.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20010200/21gett.pdf.

  Woodcock EW. Getting a Grip on Your Phone Calls. Fam Pract Manag. 2002;9:53-54.

  This article from Family Practice Management helps physicians and staff examine their processes and identify ways to improve irrational office procedures.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20020900/53gett.html.

  Pol LG, Rodie AR, Crabtree BF. Improve quality by understanding your care process. Fam Pract Manag. 1999;6:45-47.

  The quality of your care is linked to the quality of your care process. A practice "blueprint" can show you ways to improve.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/FPMprinter/990600fm/improving.html?print=yes.

  Edsall RL, Backer LA, Bush J, White B, Maresh O, Hocker KA. The Family Practice Management Practice Self-Test [Family Practice Management Web site]. February 2001.

  Here's an easy way to gauge how well your practice is doing in everything from quality of care to quality of claims.

  Available at: http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20010200/41thef.pdf. Accessed Mar. 18, 2008.

• Quality Tools

  Quality Tools and Techniques Selector Chart

  This section of the eQuality website provides access and instructions for using tools to implement quality improvement.

  Available at: http://quality.dlsu.edu.ph/tools/tool_chart.html. Accessed Mar. 18, 2008.

  Mind Tools

  The Mind Tools Web site offers authoritative, well-researched, easily understood career information presented in formats that are highly accessible and cost-effective.

  Available at: http://www.mindtools.com. Accessed Jan. 24, 2008.

  DeBono E. Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc; 1970.