So you have a great idea for a quality study. You identify the problem or opportunity — it is meaningful and measurable. You take the time collect great data. But now what do you do with it?
"You take that information and use it to create a positive change," says Daren Smith, BSN, director of clinical services for Surgical Management Professionals. Follow these seven steps offered by Mr. Smith to convert your data into recommendations, and those recommendations into change.
1. Analyze your data. Ask yourself, "Does it give you the information you need to promote change?" Mr. Smith says. "Does it provide the statistical basis to substantiate the problem or opportunity?"
2. Take the analysis to your quality committee. Here is where you will want to discuss the results and determine whether the results significant enough to institute change, he says. If they are not; skip the next step, and determine how you will gather enough data and results to bring about significant changes. If they are significant enough…
3. Brainstorm and research some possible recommendations for solutions to the problem. "Take some time to investigate your options based on the data you collected," Mr. Smith says. "Look at all your options. You will want to take a team approach to this and send members of your staff out to investigate how others solved the problem or exploited the opportunity. Look at message boards, resource materials, management companies, Internet searches, and questioning your peers can all be effective ways to research.
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4. Gather your team together and let the ideas fly. "Nothing works better than some hearty discussion to get the cream to rise," he says.
5. Organize the recommendations and take them to the next level. Depending on your organizational structure, this could be a medical director, a medical advisory board or the board of directors.
6. Tell your story. You're finally ready to put the study together. "Construct an executive summary of your study," Mr. Smith says. He says it should contain the following components:
- An introduction that identifies the problem or opportunity and how it was discovered.
- A couple sentences to explain your data collection method.
- A sentence or two summarizing your findings and conclusions based on those findings. Charts and graphs are a great way to illustrate your findings.
- A statement that illustrates your team members' recommendations and why they think they will be successful.
- Finally include a timeline for the change and the plan for restudy (if there is one).
"The summary does not need to be fancy or really detailed," he says. "Most can be accomplished in a page or less."
7. Present the study. Provide the concise and organized study document to your staff, board and accreditation agency. "Putting this in their hands makes it real and tangible, not just theoretical," Mr. Smith says. "You have involved many people along the way and that should help you create some momentum for the change."
Daren Smith RN is the director of clinical services for Surgical Management Professionals, an organization of physicians and healthcare executives who have created a successful model for ambulatory surgical centers and physician owned surgical hospitals that embrace the concept of physician ownership and clinical leadership.
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