NOTES:

1. To view and/or print PDF documents , you will need a free version of Adobe Reader if it is not already installed on your computer.
2. Whenever you see this image, , clicking it will take you to a website outside the HISC site.
3. The following definitions apply to the resources listed below:
• Guideline: A published guideline on a specific procedure or set of procedures
• Website: An external website providing more information about a topic or a useful tool
• Tutorial: Text describing a key term or idea or providing a solution to a question or problem
• Tool: An interactive website or file that allows the user the ability to compile or analyze data, generate charts, or organize planning.

Click the following links to see the associated resources:

Quality Improvement Resources from the HISC Program Modules
Other Helpful Resources

• Guideline: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force - Screening for Osteoporosis

  You may also wish to view the Summaries for Patients from the Annals of Internal Medicine

• Website: AHRQ Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP) -- Tools and Resources
  

  A program to increase the appropriate use of clinical preventive services, such as screening tests, immunizations, and counseling, based on U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.

• Tutorial: Building an Effective Team, adapted from the IHI Breakthrough Series Guide
• Tutorial: Patient Involvement In Healthcare Improvement Efforts
• Website: New Health Partnerships
• Website: The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
  

  The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a not-for-profit organization driving the improvement of health by advancing the quality and value of health care.

• Tutorials: Elements that Help Groups Work Together --
  1. Aim statements: Characteristics of a good aim statement
  2. Team roles: Essential roles for effective work
  3. Meeting agendas: Elements of an effective agenda
  4. Time management: Three tips
  5. Member participation: Two methods for balancing participation
• Book: The Team Handbook by Scholte et al. (1996)
• Tutorial: Brainstorming and Multivoting in Teams
• Tutorial: Stages of Teamwork

• Website: National Neonatal Database
  

  A website with multi-institutional comparative neonatal statistics

• Tutorial: When to Use a Team
• Tutorial: Checklist for Organizing a Team
• Website: University Healthsystem Consortium
  

  An alliance of academic health centers

• Report: Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century
• Tutorial: How to Create an Effective Flow Chart
• Guideline Website: National Guideline Clearinghouse
  

  A public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines

• Tutorial: Sampling Techniques
• Tool: Pareto Tool (from the IHI website)
• Tool: Sampling Tool (from the IHI website)
• Tool: Histogram Tool (from the IHI website)
• Website: IHI General Improvement Methods -- Content and Tools
• Tutorial: Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle
• Tutorial: How to Improve (from the IHI website)
• Tool: Simple Data Collection Planning Tool (from the IHI Website)

• Tutorial: Operational Definition
• Tutorial: Confounding Variable
• Tutorial: How to Determine if Data Is Skewed
• Tool: Spreadsheet Template for Generating Control Charts
• Tutorial: Introductory Overview on Control Charts (Powerpoint presentation)
• Tutorial: Reading XmR Control Charts
• Tutorial: Control Chart Interpretation Rules

• Website: NHS Modernisation Agency
• Website: Spreading Changes. This document and other useful documents at this site can be downloaded free by registering and logging in.

1. "To Err is Human" Summary
2. Process Improvement Resource Site at George Mason University

   XmR chart resources:

   • A video
   • A presentation with voice-over (requires the free Flash Player, if not already installed on your computer.)

3. Theory of Contraints Applying the theory of constraints in health care
4. Preventing Medical Errors CME Program

   A 2-part CME program offered at the Virtual Lecture Hall (fee required):

   1. The Search for Causes of Error
   2. Preventing Your Errors, Improving the System

5. Popular Selections from the IHI Breakthrough Series:

   Breakthrough Series Guide: Reducing Adverse Drug Events

   • A Step-by-Step Guide to Reducing Adverse Drug Events
   • Change Concepts for Reducing Adverse Drug Events
   • Achieving Breakthrough Improvement in Reducing Adverse Drug Events
   • Troubleshooting: Overcoming Organizational Barriers

   Breakthrough Series Guide: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Costs in Adult Cardiac Surgery

   • Changes to Improve the Cardiac Surgery System
   • Case Studies: Improving Adult Cardiac Surgery
   • Accelerating Improvement in Your Cardiac Surgery Program
   • Change Concepts for Improving Adult Cardiac Surgery
   • Resources for Improving Outcomes and Reducing Costs in Adult Cardiac Surgery

6. An introduction to problem-based learning” (PBL) as a diagnostic tool in professional practice "Problem-Solving & Learning in Practice." [DOC]
   Problem-based learning can be a useful tool for diagnosing problems when working in teams or when working independently. This down to earth introduction, drawn from higher education, should prove easy to adapt to QI work – particularly at the "Finding Out What's Going On" stage.