QI Projects

What is Quality Improvement?

Quality improvement (QI) is a proven approach to identifying areas that need change, looking at what’s working well, what could be done better, and trying out small changes that will lead to overall improvement in a system. Every improvement project is an opportunity for members to learn from each other, apply what works, and, most importantly, improve care in real time. Think of it like a cycle where new ideas are constantly being identified, tested, and if viable, shared across the larger community.

When identifying potential QI projects, we ask questions like:

What are areas that need improvement? What are the gaps in care?

Who is affected by this problem–patients, families, and/or clinicians?

What is the data telling us?

How will we know if a change is an improvement?

If successful, how can we scale and implement this improvement in other care settings?

QI within the Bipolar Action Network