How Quality Improvement Interacts with Other Approaches to Improving Healthcare

Abstract

Improving healthcare quality is a multifaceted endeavor that necessitates collaboration not only among healthcare practitioners but also with families and patients. Their input is crucial for identifying gaps, devising relevant therapies, and ensuring that efforts enhance care and outcomes while addressing their perspectives. However, effecting change in healthcare systems is complex, as not all changes yield beneficial outcomes and many result in unforeseen consequences. Various methodologies exist for instigating change in healthcare systems, such as lean management, six sigma, the structure for improvement, healthcare science delivery, and implementation science. While these methods are often applied independently, there is significant overlap in their approaches, particularly between quality improvement (QI) and implementation science. Coordinating these strategies can enhance their effectiveness in producing improvements. Research plays a vital role in providing generalizable information, whereas QI involves both creating new knowledge and applying existing knowledge in specific contexts. While research evaluates the efficacy of treatments in real-world settings, QI focuses on identifying the most effective approaches in specific scenarios. Research typically employs a consistent methodology and aims to isolate the influence of various factors, whereas QI utilizes adaptable hypotheses and recurrent testing to uncover optimal approaches. Both research and QI share an interest in the environment in which they operate, although for different reasons. Research seeks to minimize the influence of external factors to generate generalizable knowledge, while QI aims to identify the best approaches tailored to specific contexts. The quality of research collection and analysis has improved over time, contributing to advancements in healthcare knowledge and practice.