Quality improvement is a systematic approach used to enhance the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care processes and services. It involves identifying areas that need improvement, implementing changes, and measuring the outcomes to ensure sustained improvements over time. The goal of quality improvement is to optimize processes and deliver better outcomes by improving care, reducing errors, and enhancing patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Each CQI works to identify areas for improvement, then develops strategies and implements strategies with specific, measurable goals. Ongoing monitoring through the robust CQI registries is crucial to assess the impact of the improvement efforts. Quality improvement is an iterative process, and adjustments are made based on the feedback and data collected. Lessons learned from previous improvement initiatives inform subsequent efforts, leading to a cycle of continuous refinement and advancement.
The CQI infrastructure enables granular data collection from a wide variety of clinical sites, and the analysis of additional data sources, while fostering deep collaboration among hundreds of health care partners. Regular feedback from patients, hands-on clinical care providers, and health system leaders, helps to ensure that quality improvement interventions can be implemented and sustained in a variety of clinical and community settings.
The continuous quality improvement cycle leads to widely-shared best practices throughout the state of Michigan and beyond.