Best tool to use?

Marianne Shawley's picture
Thu, 06/29/2017 - 10:54 -- Marianne Shawley

My department has been given the assignment of using QI to improve the Community Themes and Strengths Assessment process.  We will usually use a Charter, SIPOC and Flow Chart of the process, but beyond that I am not sure where to go.  Any suggestions?

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Submitted by tkane on

Marianne,

Have you identified an aim for the project to document what it is that you'd like to accomplish as a result of the project?  This could effect the type of tool that you would use. 

Ty

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Submitted by jbritanik on

I think since it sounds like you are aiming to improve a process, the flow chart is the way to go.  One of my favorite tools to use in combination with the flow chart is the fishbone diagram/cause and effect diagram.  It is really helpful for finding root causes of some of the bottlenecks, redundancies, and other sticking points in your current state process.

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Grace Gorenflo's picture
Submitted by Grace Gorenflo on
Hi Marianne, I'm happy to walk you through a PDSA process using these and other tools if you would like. Please message me through PHQIX to follow up if that would be helpful. My best, Grace (PHQIX expert panel member)
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Submitted by gkroberts on

Hi Marianne,

I agree with Ty that an aim statement would you determine which tool to use, and with @jbritanik that a flow chart and root cause analysis tool would be helpful. For example, if you wanted to improve community engagement in the Community Themes and Strengths Assessment, you could do a flow chart/process map to see what the process looks like, and then use a root cause analysis (the 5 whys is my favorite) to see why engagement was not where you wanted it to be last time. Together, these two tools can help you identify areas of improvement that you can write a PDSA around.

There are some QI projects published on PHQIX that may help you brainstorm which tools to use and implementation details:

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