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Table 7. Model for Improvement
• Used to accelerate change in a variety of healthcare and public health settings
• Designed for team-driven projects
• Relies heavily on data analysis and interpretation
• Requires training (much of which can be self-directed online)
• Subspecialists have created primers focused on their practice areas
• Developed by the Associates for Process Improvement based on Deming's System of
Profound Knowledge
1,2,12
• Adopted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
11
in its 100,000 and
5 Million Lives campaigns
3
1. Answer 3 questions to identify needed changes or interventions:
a. What are we trying to accomplish?
b. How will we know that a change is an improvement?
c. What change can we make that will result in improvement?
2. Test the changes or interventions using plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles:
a. Plan: predictions of outcome
b. Do: execution according to plan
c. Study: analysis and evaluation
d. Act: decision whether to keep, abandon, or modify the intervention
3. Use PDSA findings and decisions to plan the next experiment, starting a new PDSA
cycle. Multiple cycles are done in series called 'ramps.'
