Effects of quality improvement collaboratives

doi:10.1136/bmj.a216

BMJ 2008;336:1448-1449 (28 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.a216 (published 24 June 2008)

Editorials

Effects of quality improvement collaboratives

Are difficult to measure using traditional biomedical researchmethods

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the linked study, Schouten and colleagues report a systematicreview of the effectiveness of quality improvement collaborativesin improving the quality of care. They conclude that the evidencesupporting these collaboratives is positive but limited andtheir effects are difficult to predict.¹

Despite limited evidence, the quality improvement collaborativeis one of the most popular methods for organising improvementefforts at hospitals and ambulatory practices worldwide. Qualityimprovement collaboratives in health care date back to the mid-1980s,and some of the earliest and most successful examples includethe Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group,the US Veterans’ Affairs National Surgical Quality ImprovementProgram, and the Vermont Oxford Network. These ongoing initiativeshave improved care and saved many lives at participating hospitals.²³ ⁴

In the 1990s, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, thepre-eminent quality improvement organisation in the United States,popularised a quality improvement model they called the breakthroughseries.⁵ . . . [Full text of this article]

Peter K Lindenauer, director and associate professor of medicine

¹ Center for Quality and Safety Research, Baystate Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Springfield MA, 01199, USA

peter.lindenauer@bhs.org

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Evidence for the impact of quality improvement collaboratives: systematic review: Loes M T Schouten, Marlies E J L Hulscher, Jannes J E van Everdingen, Robbert Huijsman, and Richard P T M Grol
BMJ 2008 336: 1491-1494. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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Randomised controlled trials have an important place in evaluating quality improvement initiatives.: Martin P Eccles, et al.
bmj.com, 12 Jul 2008 [Full text]