Rapid cycle improvement project

Topic: Medication administration errors in hospitals

1. PROBLEM STATEMENT: 5 points

Why are you doing this project? What is the problem you are addressing? Who is affected? When is

it a problem? Why does it matter? How does it affect you?

Consider aligning your project with at least one of the Institute of Medicine's six dimensions of

quality: safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, equitable (where applicable).

Current situation is __________________, leading to _______________ (undesirable event).

1. AIM STATEMENT: What are you trying to accomplish? 7.5 points

What do you hope to accomplish with this project? Aims should be SMART, specific, clear,

well-defined, and at a minimum describe the target population, the desired improvement,

and the targeted timeframe. (ASMART aim statementis an explicitstatementwhich describes what a successful project is expected to achieve. 'SMART' is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Applicable, Realistic, and Timely.)

To improve (your process) from (baseline) % to (target) %, by (timeframe), among (your

specific population)

To increase / decrease: _____________________________ (process/outcome)

from: ___________________________________________ (baseline %, rate, #, etc.)

to: ______________________________________________ (goal/target %, rate, #, etc.)

by: _____________________________________________ (date, 3-6 month timeframe)

in: __________________NA_________________________(population impacted)

1. ESTABLISHING MEASURES: How will you know that a change is an improvement? 5 points

Measurement over time is essential to QI. Measures can be outcome, process, or balancing

measures. Baseline or benchmark data are needed to show improvement.

Align your measure with your problem statement and aim.

Try to define your measure as a numerator/denominator.