A modified Delphi study to identify the features of high quality measurement plans for healthcare improvement projects

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Citation

Woodcock, T., Adeleke, Y., Goeschel, C. et al. A modified Delphi study to identify the features of high quality measurement plans for healthcare improvement projects. BMC Med Res Methodol 20, 8 (2020) doi:10.1186/s12874-019-0886-6

  • 20 January 2020

Contributors

Why it matters

Measuring quality of care over time is essential for monitoring systems, assessing progress, generating feedback and driving improvement for patients. But measurement for improvement is challenging for healthcare improvement teams.  One risk is that teams may sometimes resort to poorly validated measures, and collecting and analysing the data isn’t always done to a high standard. Local ownership of measurement may help teams to engage with and commit to measures, but does not remove these risks.

Guidance that explains “what good looks like” in measuring for improvement might have value in addressing these problems. In particular, better planning for measurement may enable teams to avoid some common mistakes.

This paper describes a consensus-building process to identify which features are important in a quality improvement measurement plan.

Our approach

We used a three-stage consensus-building approach. First, we reviewed the literature to identify important features of measurement plans, and framed each feature as a question.

Next, we conducted a two-round online Delphi exercise, bringing together individuals experienced in developing measurement plans for improvement initiatives with experts in the study of improvement. The participants considered each other’s views in reaching agreement.

Then, we worked with the participants to finalise the list of features.

What we found

Read the article

 

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