Quality improvement learning program: Empowering teams and building capacity for local-level improvement
Navpreet Kamboj, Katherine Bailey, Maheen Raja, Nikita Gajjar, Jessica Vickery, Wendy Campbell, Christopher Fung, Amir Ginzburg, Kevin Gitau, Nazia SharfuddinIntroduction:
Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential for quality improvement (QI); however, structured educational opportunities for practicing health care teams remain limited. For this reason, we developed the QI Learning Program, a cohort-based program that offers longitudinal didactic and experiential training to interdisciplinary health care teams. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a novel curriculum on learner QI knowledge, skills, and program satisfaction.
Methods:
Interdisciplinary teams from inpatient medicine, psychiatry, and emergency departments participated in two QI training sessions and implemented QI projects responding to local unit-level needs under the guidance of a QI Coach. The Kirkpatrick Model was used to guide evaluation methods, which included learner self-reported QI knowledge and skills, and both learner and coach satisfaction. Measures were analyzed pre-program, immediately after completing the training sessions, and after six months.
Results:
A total of 56 learners were enrolled across seven QI project teams. Self-reported knowledge of QI principles increased from 42% pre-program to 81% at six months. Learner confidence in various QI skills significantly increased from pre-program to six months, including SMART goals (74% to 94%), Ishikawa diagrams (32% to 91%), and Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles (50% to 97%). Most learners (81%) agreed that the training prepared them to carry out a QI project, and 91% would recommend the program. Common barriers included time constraints and limited project autonomy.
Discussion:
QI Learning Program effectively enhanced participants’ QI knowledge and skills, while also promoting interdisciplinary collaboration. Results support the value of structured, longitudinal QI education for health care teams and highlight the program's potential to drive sustainable improvements.