Where to start?
What am I trying to show?
Data is important for improvement projects because it is not satisfactory to say “it feels better”, “I think it’s better”, or “it seems better”. We need to establish factual data and measures to demonstrate what has been achieved.
Sites should be able to gather data on many measures, some from existing nationally collected data sources (such as admissions data for length of stay information) or from local data collection.
Sites should collect data to show if projects have had an impact on its aims and objectives, such as improvement in quality of care or financial impact. Measures we may use include hospital admissions data, patient experience surveys, primary care data, or locally defined measures.
Instead of simple comparisons and averages, we try to look at the patient level information and understand the variation within your system. Tools from Statistical Process Control (SPC) can help demonstrate change in projects.
Instead of the typical “before vs after” comparisons
Using tools like SPC will provide greater evidence of improvement. Click on the image below to view a larger version.
Further information