Become Improvers and Innovators

“Effective improvement and innovation is all about people.” Staff need to feel involved in improving parts of the system they know best. When setting priorities for improvement you need to have quality planning and understand needs and assets from the customer’s perspective. Always engage with patients, their families and staff when making improvements to healthcare delivery. [The Scottish Government. Personalising Realistic Medicine: Chief Medical Officer for Scotland’s Annual Report 2017-18. Published 2019. https://www.gov.scot/publications/personalising-realistic-medicine-chief-medical-officer-scotland-annual-report-2017-2018/pages/7/]

Healthcare Improvement Scotland. iHub https://ihub.scot/ (accessed 08/10/2019)

 NHS Education for Scotland. Quality Improvement Zone TURAS Learn https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/741/quality-improvement-zone (accessed 08/10/2019)

 Institute for Healthcare Improvement. IHI http://www.ihi.org/ (accessed 08/10/2019)

KNUDSEN, S.V., et al, 2019. Can quality improvement improve the quality of care? A systematic review of reported effects and methodological rigor in plan-do-study-act projects. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), pp. 683.
Of the 120 QI projects included, almost all reported improvement (98%). However, only 32 (27%) described a specific, quantitative aim and reached it. A total of 72 projects (60%) documented PDSA cycles sufficiently for inclusion in a full analysis of key features. Of these only three (4%) adhered to all four key methodological features. CONCLUSION: Even though a majority of the QI projects reported improvements, the widespread challenges with low adherence to key methodological features in the individual projects pose a challenge for the legitimacy of PDSA-based QI. This review indicates that there is a continued need for improvement in quality improvement methodology.

SALAMA J.S., et al, 2019. Innovating in healthcare delivery: A systematic review and a preference-based framework of patient and provider needs. BMJ Innovations, epub ahead of print
We conducted two systematic literature reviews to identify the needs of these stakeholders throughout healthcare delivery and developed a conceptual framework for innovating in healthcare. Our results reveal tension between patients' and providers' preferences across three major categories-treatment and outcomes, process of care and structure of care. Therefore, innovating in healthcare may be better understood as addressing the unmet needs of each stakeholder by easing or eliminating tensions between stakeholders. This conceptual framework may serve as a useful instrument for health policymakers, payers and innovators to alike make better decisions as they invest in healthcare innovations.