How to Use Quality Network Change Packages

We recommend that a physician champion create an interdisciplinary team (physicians, nurses, medical assistants, practice administrator, etc.) to discuss the aspects of care that are most in need of improvement in your practice. A “current state” workflow or process map can help your team identify areas that need improvement.

Your team will create focus and alignment by answering the three fundamental questions from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Model for Improvement:

1. What are we trying to accomplish?
2. How will we know that a change is an improvement?
3. What changes can we make that will result in improvement?

The answers will help your team determine quality improvement aims (question 1) and related measures (question 2). Then, you can select specific interventions from the change package (question 3) that your team can test through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to see if they help your team accomplish its aim. The change package is meant to be a menu of options from which practices can select specific interventions to improve care. The interventions are not meant to be implemented all at once and not all interventions will be applicable to your clinical setting.

You can learn more about improvement concepts by referring to the quality improvement glossary.

Source: Langley GL, Moen RD, Nolan KM, Nolan TW, Norman CL, and Provost LP. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance. 2nd Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 2009