Tracking QI Projects

Sat, 05/14/2016 - 13:55 -- gkroberts

Hello PHQIXers,

Does anyone have a method of tracking QI projects that has been successful in providing real-time status updates? Until now, we have tracked QI projects through an appendix table in our QI plan, which has worked well. But now that we have more projects happening concurrently, it has been more difficult to keep track of what is going on and knowing when to step in for support. Being able to track these with real-time could help the PDSA process to continue moving. I know this is more of a project management question. Any advice would help!

Thanks!

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Submitted by kwaksmonski on

Hi there,

Here's what we've come up with and we just have our QI plan refer to it.  It's a table that tracks our QI submissions.  These submissions are then reviewed by the Leadership Team (date on the far left column) and then head to the QI Team to be assigned a liaison who is responsible for monitoring the status of the project and reporting it at the monthly QI Team meeting.

Kyla

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Submitted by Georgianna on

Thanks for sharing that Kyla.  We've been trying to develop an effective tracking system as well.

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Georgianna Wood
Accreditation Coordinator
Humboldt County DHHS Public Health

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Submitted by eich0117 on

Our department tracks them using a project inventory spreadsheet that includes project details including: start and projected end date, QI consultant assignment, aim statement, etc. We update this monthly and provide updates at our monthly QI council meetings.

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Alex Elizabeth

Submitted by frerickson on

The VMSG Dashboard Public Health Performance Management System may be the tool you're looking for to track your QI (and any other) projects.  It is, at its core, a project/operational planning & management tool.  Many health departments across the Nation are using the Dashboard to develop and manage their strategic, operational, QI, CHIP and CHA plans. Here is a link to a short video demo:  

https://youtu.be/W5dt6CQG37Y?list=PLtakD9sONParVmx1MYRLV7oYxLSFYn0Pq

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Thanx
Fred Erickson

jdavy@lincoln.ne.gov's picture
Submitted by jdavy@lincoln.ne.gov on

It's a huge challenge! Especially when you have teams with members from different divisions or sections within your department. We actually developed an app in-house (using Logi for Developers). We call it QIETS (Quality Improvement Electronic Tracking System), and it is a one-stop-shop for all things QI, from start to finish. It allows anyone in the department to submit a problem/opportunity statement at any time. Using PDSA, it allows teams to organize their work one phase at a time (with certain requirements along the way), and supervisors to keep up to date with the process and progress. Act Phase allows the selection of “Adapt, Adopt, or Abandon,” and requires an action plan for follow-up which feeds our commitment to continuous QI.  Some other things we built in were approval processes, document storage, suggested timelines and tools from the QI Coordinator, training modules, history of past QIs (including tools used), and report functionality. Some things are not done in-app (like process mapping), but can be uploaded upon completion. It's pretty robust and includes most of what we want, nothing we don't. But it’s been a year in the making!

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T. Jesse Davy

Submitted by gkroberts on

Wow, thank you for your input, Kyla, Alex, John, Fred, and Jesse! I agree that this will be an ongoing challenge for most of us as we continue on our QI journeys, so it helps to not feel alone!

I like the spreadsheet idea as a starting place. It provides all of the necessary information in the early phases of a culture of quality (phases 1-3 and even 4 of NACCHOs Roadmap to a Culture of QI). As we move closer to phases 5 and 6, it starts to get complicated with agency-wide QI activities, and may need a more streamlined approach. In this case, I like the idea of the Minitab Quality Companion, using a comprehensive performance management system such as VMSG, and creating an app.

John, if you do decide to implement Minitab Quality Companion, please share your experience with us!

Jesse, the app you mention is very innovative! Is this something your agency would be willing to share with other health departments?

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Gurleen Roberts, MPH
Director of Quality Management
Cobb & Douglas Public Health
Marietta, GA
gurleen.roberts@dph.ga.gov

jdavy@lincoln.ne.gov's picture
Submitted by jdavy@lincoln.ne.gov on

Sorry for the delay! We are beta testing now. It may be available in the future, but we develop our apps using Logi, so that would have to be purchased to simplify adopting QIETS. I'll use PHQIX to communicate more in the future!

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T. Jesse Davy

Submitted by brandi_wamhoff on

Hello!

At KCHD, as each team completes stages of the PDCA process, they fill out worksheets which are then given to me (the QI Coordinator).  The worksheets provide an indication of how the team is functioning on the project and if there are any questions which need answered.  If there are questions, I then reach out to the lead person to review together.  

I understand that this method may not be feasible for larger Health Departments but I think it is a great way to review each step throughout the process.  In addition, once the steps are completed, the project team now has a template for their storyboard!

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Brandi Wamhoff, MPH
Kane County Health Department
Data and Quality Coordinator

Submitted by baumahb on

In my previous role as coordinator, I created a tracking page on SharePoint for all of the projects. It included information about the project topics, leaders, timelines and status, and it was open to all project leaders and members to check on. I mainly did the updates to the status pages (for example, when I met with a project leader or sponsor, I would make a note in that project). I thought it worked very well and helped to keep our projects organized. Hope this helps!

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Submitted by gkroberts on

Hey Brandi, we also have a worksheet that serves as a template for a storyboard. This worksheet is helpful, like you mentioned, but how do you keep track of them (electronically, sharepoint,etc)? Are the project team leaders required to send it to you at certain points throughout the project so you are updated on their progress? How do you know if they need help?

@baumahb, thanks for the SharePoint tip. I think that's a nice idea and piggy backs off of what some of the others have mentioned above regarding a tracking sheet. I'll give it a try.

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Gurleen Roberts, MPH
Director of Quality Management
Cobb & Douglas Public Health
Marietta, GA
gurleen.roberts@dph.ga.gov

Submitted by Channa Lindsay on

I know this is not feasible for everyone, but, we use AchieveIt, a cloud based performance management system to track progress and link related items from our strategic plan, program and division operational plans, and agency/ program projects. We can “tag” something as a QI project, and have it live under a program operational plan.


The QI project lead receives an email to provide an update on QI project progress in AchieveIt.


As the Quality Improvement Specialist and full access AchieveIt user, I can use the QI “tag” to create a list of all QI projects and check project progress, even if I am not the project lead.

Let me know if you want more information!

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Channa Lindsay

Submitted by gkroberts on

Thanks for sharing, Channa! We are in the process of implementing a new performance management platform that I hope can support the same features as AchieveIt so I may connect with you on your lessons learned from using this type of performance management tool to also track QI projects. 2 birds, 1 stone!

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Gurleen Roberts, MPH
Director of Quality Management
Cobb & Douglas Public Health
Marietta, GA
gurleen.roberts@dph.ga.gov