The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) is offering three webinars on Measurement for Quality Improvement. These are my notes from the first webinar: Measurement Basics for Quality Improvement (which was held on Oct 22, 2014, but which I realize I haven’t posted until now!)
- data helps guide decision making and helps us know where to focus time, attention, and resources
- wherever possible, collect data as part of existing processes
- you can collect small samples of data in real time and validate against later data set later on
- in improvement projects, we typically aren’t asking about “statistical significance”, but rather we want to know if the data changes over time
Run Charts
- data displayed with time on x-axis
- can measure process measures or outcome measures
- collected weekly or monthly and plotted as you get it
- centre line = median or baseline
- recalculate the median once you see a trend or shift
- helps you see:
- baseline
- how results are changing over time
- when you reach a target
- in you sustain that target over time
- natural fluctuations
- if you only measured pre vs. post, you can end up finding “statistically significant” results when they might just be different due to fluctuations
- analyzing run charts:
- evidence of a trend: 5+ consecutive points going in the same direction (up or down)
- evidence of a shift: 5+ consecutive points on one side of the median (either above or below); less than 5% chance of seeing this if there isn’t really something going on
- can compare process and outcomes (e.g., number of people attending a diabetes education program with number of patients with controlled blood glucose) – can help explain things going on with the outcome
Resources:
- IHI’s Run Chart Tool
- You can also do these in Excel – there’s even a built in template
- The run chart: a simple analytical tool for learning from variation in healthcare processes. BMJ Quality & Safety 20(1), 46-51. (requires a subscription)
You can view a recording of this session ($69 for one session or $250 for all 3) on the CFHI website. 1Disclosure: I have received a grant from the the CFHI in the past and am currently an “Improvement Coach” on one of their projects. I don’t receive anything for blogging about their workshop – I’ve just found them useful and wanted to share what I’m learning and I wanted to be transparent that I’ve received funding from them for projects.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Disclosure: I have received a grant from the the CFHI in the past and am currently an “Improvement Coach” on one of their projects. I don’t receive anything for blogging about their workshop – I’ve just found them useful and wanted to share what I’m learning and I wanted to be transparent that I’ve received funding from them for projects. |
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