Presenters: Dr. Patrick Brady, Dr. Michele Saysana, Dr. Christine White, and Dr. Mark Shen.
Session analysis:
QI is about making positive changes in the delivery of healthcare. Multiple QI interventions are been implemented daily throughout our hospitals. Some of those interventions result in positive changes and affect specific outcomes the way we want. It is our job, as hospitalists, to share them with our colleagues so patients can benefit from them.
Some of the barriers to publishing QI as identified by the group are: lack of time, resources available and administrative support, lack of mentorship, and unrecognized value of QI in the academic world. The group also identified some strategies to be successful at writing and publishing QI, including: blocking time in the schedule and labeling it “writing days,” joining a collaborative, reaching out to Journal editors and becoming familiar with the SQUIRE guidelines. Some key points as discussed by the experts that will aid during the process of writing QI are:
- A specific goal/aim statement needs to be identified,
- The measurement needs to match your goal/aim,
- Always start with writing your methods since you know exactly what you did,
- Plot data over time using a run chart, and
- Keep a notebook with documentation of dates all interventions started.
It is also important for everyone to know there are multiple quality and safety journals willing to review QI manuscripts for publication.