You volunteer at a student-run clinic associated with your academic health center. As a member of the student board, you are constantly looking for ways to improve the clinic. One common complaint is that it takes too lo
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You volunteer at a student-run clinic associated with your academic health center. As a member of the student board, you are constantly looking for ways to improve the clinic. One common complaint is that it takes too long to check patients in once they arrive, and you decide to tackle this problem.
Which of the following might be an outcome measure for this effort?
(A) Average number of minutes between patient arrival at the clinic and completion of check-in
(B) Number of patients seen by the clinic
(C) Average number of students helping to check a patient in
(D) None of the above - ANSWER Average number of minutes between patient arrival at the clinic and completion of check-in
Outcome measures tell you how the system is performing. In this case, the aim of the project is to decrease the time it takes to check in patients, so an appropriate outcome measure for this project could be "average number of minutes between patient arrival at the clinic and completion of check-in." The average number of patients seen by the clinic and the average number of students helping to check in patients might be useful to track as balancing and process measures, respectively.
You volunteer at a student-run clinic associated with your academic health center. As a member of the student board, you are constantly looking for ways to improve the clinic. One common complaint is that it takes too long to check patients in once they arrive, and you decide to tackle this problem.
Which of the following is the best way to collect baseline data for this improvement project?
(A) Look at a few patients every day for a week.
(B) Look at 10 percent of patients for a year.
(C) Look at 100 percent of patients for a month.
(D) There is no reason to collect baseline data. - ANSWER Look at a few patients every day for a week.
The best answer is to use a small sample and gather the data quickly. When measuring for improvement, it's often unnecessary (and may defeat the goal of rapid, iterative testing) to collect all available information over an extended period of time. Baseline data is important for knowing whether changes you are making are, in fact, leading to improvement.
Which of the following is an example of an effective measurement technique for improvement?
(A) Always strive for perfection.
(B) Use quantitative and qualitative data.
(C) Always set aside designated time for data collection.
(D) All of the above - ANSWER Use quantitative and qualitative data.
The best answer is to use qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data, which is not so much about numbers as it is about the depth of the information collected, can be a rich source of knowledge in improvement projects. Interviews or focus groups are common sources of qualitative data. Measurement is not the goal; improvement is the goal. In order to move forward to the next step, a team needs just enough data to know whether changes are leading to improvement. ("Seek usefulness, not perfection" is a mantra at IHI.) To save time, integrate data collection into the daily routine as much as possible.
Why should you consider collecting a family of measures when undertaking an improvement?
(A) It makes the project more publishable.
(B) A single measure may not be enough to determine the impact of a change on the system.
(C) All improvement projects are so complex that they require multiple measures.
(D) All of the above - ANSWER A single measure may not be enough to determine the impact of a change on the system.
Health care systems are extremely complex. A small change in a complex system can lead to many unexpected results, so using only one measure may not capture the effect of the change upon the system. Using more measures will not necessarily increase the likelihood of publication. Finally, it is health care that is complex, not necessarily the improvement project itself. The most successful projects are often the simplest ones.
You're working on an improvement project at a community mental health center. Your project aim: "Within two months, 100 percent of our patients will wait less than 30 minutes to be seen by a physician." You decide to gather data on patient wait times over a week-long period in order to establish a baseline. What might be an important consideration as you plan your data collection strategy?
(A) Whether you'll provide food for the patients who wait more than 30 minutes.
(B) What exactly you mean by "wait less than 30 minutes to be seen" — does this include the time the patient spends checking in, for instance?
(C) How to establish consensus among the clinic's caregivers about the value of the project before gathering data.
(D) How to inform the supervisors of individual physicians quickly when those physicians' patients wait more than 30 minutes. - ANSWER What exactly you mean by "wait less than 30 minutes to be seen" — does this include the time the patient spends checking in, for instance?
It is crucial to clearly define your measure before you begin gathering data, so that you and your team members measure the same thing each time — and so that others understand what you are measuring. It's not necessary to establish consensus at the outset about the value of the project; by doing small tests of change, you are likely to gain buy-in as you go. Finally, you are gathering data for improvement, not accountability, so for this project, it doesn't make sense to notify supervisors about the performance of individual caregivers.
During a clinical rotation on the medical-surgical floor of a hospital, you notice several patients have developed urinary tract infections (UTIs) associated with their Foley catheters (tubes inserted into the bladder to drain urine). Your staff physician agrees that this is a problem and offers to help with an improvement project. Together, you work through several PDSA cycles to reduce the rate of UTIs on your floor.
Which of the following methods would you recommend to display your improvement data?
(A) Draw a bar chart.
(B) Write a list of numbers.
(C) Create a two-column table.
(D) Draw a run chart. - ANSWER Draw a run chart.
Run charts are an effective way to view changes over time. They are much easier to interpret visually than a list of numbers or a static display of data such as a bar chart.
During a clinical rotation on the medical-surgical floor of a hospital, you notice several patients have developed urinary tract infections (UTIs) associated with their Foley catheters (tubes inserted into the bladder to drain urine). Your staff physician agrees that this is a problem and offers to help with an improvement project. Together, you work through several PDSA cycles to reduce the rate of UTIs on your floor.
When designing the run chart, it is important to include:
(A) Units of time on the Y axis
(B) The rate of UTIs on the X axis
(C) Units of time on the X axis
(D) A and B - ANSWER Units of time on the X axis
The run chart should display units of time — whether it's days, weeks, or months — on the X axis. The Y axis is where you plot the key variable you are measuring, which in this case is the rate of UTIs.
Which of the following is a problem with static data?
(A) It doesn't adequately portray variation.
(B) It is often inaccurate.
(C) It can't display mean, median, or mode.
(D) All of the above - ANSWER It doesn't adequately portray variation.
Summary statistics that are static in nature don't give you the appropriate picture of the variation that lives in your data. Although you can accurately display data such as the mean, median, or mode, it is not a good way to observe change over time.
Which of the following statements is true about using data for improvement?
(A) Both quantitative and qualitative data can be useful.
(B) The data should tell a story.
(C) A run chart is one of the most helpful tools for displaying data.
(D) All of the above. - ANSWER All of the above.
Which of the following describes data stratification?
(A) Plotting observations to show the relationship between two sets of data
(B) Classifying and separating data according to specific variables
(C) Plotting data over time
(D) Illustrating the relative frequency of occurrence - ANSWER Classifying and separating data according to specific variables
Classifying and separating data according to specific variables — a practice called stratification — is a helpful way to understand the story data is telling. The goal of stratification is to find patterns in data that will help you understand the causal factors at work. Stratification helps inform teams' decisions about what changes to make, where, and when.
In a run chart, the variable being measured is typically placed on what axis?
(A) X axis
(B) Y axis
(C) Either axis
(D) Neither axis; the run chart does not compare variables. - ANSWER Y axis
The measured value is usually represented on the Y axis of a run chart. The X axis is usually the time — minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, etc. — or a numerical sequence in cases where data doesn't correspond to units of time.
Imagine you're a member of a newly formed improvement team that has taken up the challenge to reduce health care-associated infections at your hospital. You have an idea for a change to the room cleaning process that you want to test, but you're slightly nervous because improper cleaning and disinfection can carry a high risk for patients with compromised immune systems. You haven't run any PDSA cycles yet. Which of the following would be the best next step?
(A) Have one housekeeper use the process with one room cleaning.
(B) Have all housekeepers use the process for a week.
(C) Have one housekeeper use the process on five room cleanings.
(D) Confirm the "face validity" of the new cleaning process by demonstrating it with a couple of housekeeping staff members and a supervisor. - ANSWER Confirm the "face validity" of the new cleaning process by demonstrating it with a couple of housekeeping staff members and a supervisor.
Based on your concern about patient safety, you'd likely first want to confirm the "face validity" of the new cleaning process by demonstrating it with a couple of housekeeping staff members and a supervisor. When testing changes that involve patients, it can be helpful to conduct an initial test using staff only. A simulation or practice session before going live is often a good way to uncover issues with high risk.
When planning a sequence of PDSA cycles for a change that involves patients, which of the following is a true statement?
(A) Patient characteristics in each PDSA cycle should be as uniform as possible to allow valid comparisons.
(B) The number of patients in each cycle should stay fixed, to allow valid comparisons.
(C) We would expect the number of patients involved to grow rapidly from early cycles to later cycles.
(D) None of the above - ANSWER We would expect the number of patients involved to grow rapidly from early cycles to later cycles.
As improvement work progresses and the number of cycles increases, we would expect the scope and scale of the tests to increase, meaning both a rapidly growing number of patients involved in the tests as well as increasing diversity in the test population.
When increasing the number of patients or events from one PDSA cycle to the next, it is usually helpful to multiply by what number?
(A) 2
(B) 5
(C) 10
(D) 20 - ANSWER 5
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