Tools

Why Quality Improvement?

Dr. Mike Evans (Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto): "An Illustrated Look at Quality Improvement in Health Care". In the video, Evans starts with a simple question: Why should you care about quality improvement? 

He presents a brief history of QI (including a "Mount Rushmore" of improvers), then touches on system design, the Model for Improvement, and the familiar challenge, "What can you do by next Tuesday?" — all in less than nine minutes!

IHI collaborated with Dr. Mike Evans to create a dynamic, animated whiteboard video that introduces the concepts of quality improvement in health care. Dr. Evans has become well-known in health care circles for his fast-paced videos that have attracted millions of views on YouTube.

Q: "What is Quality Improvement?"

A: "Quality Improvement (QI) helps us identify what works well and where we can make changes. In primary care, we don’t have time or resources to spend on things that don’t work, don’t serve our patients, and that could be done more efficiently or effectively. QI is a commitment to continuously improving the quality of healthcare, focusing on the preferences and needs of the people who use services."
 
EQuiP recognises its role in taking the initiative around the quality agenda, and that there is a need to reflect experiences rather than focusing solely on the gold standard level of quality. ‘What good looks like’ changes over time and EQuiP wants to encourage all members to engage in QI activities on a broader level of continuous improvement on the quality spectrum.