Question

Describe the difference between research and quality improvement. Provide a workplace example where qualitative and quantitative research is applied and how it was used within your organization. When replying to peers, discuss how these research findings might be incorporated into another health care setting.

Answer 1

QI

Research

Improves performance or processes to strengthen patient care. Findings used for internal improvement. Implementation of established evidence-based standards. Implementation will result in direct benefit Follows the plan, do, study, actcycle Usually involves all or most people participating in the process HIPAA covers the use of protected health information for QI purposes May make changes during the process based upon preliminary data The hospital agrees that it is a QI project. Project is not a risk or burden to patients The results are not initially intended to be published; may be published as a quality project.* Not funded by an external research grant.

Answers a question or hypothesis to advance general knowledge Findings contribute to generalized knowledge outside of the hospital Investigates untested methods or standards Subjects may not directly benefit from knowledge gained Follows a research design (e.g. randomization) Involves a subset of the population with inclusion and exclusion criteria Must get written consent from patients and identify how health information will be protected No deviation from set protocol. Data is usually not analyzed until completion Approval from the hospital andthe institutional review board (IRB) needed Results are expected to be published and presented outside the hospital External funding may be sought.

Example:

A study on workplace substance misuse prevention reports challenges associated with both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

• Qualitative Methods

Qualitative methods are a good starting point when you begin your assessment. These methods can be useful for describing a situation and can provide insight for your intervention approach.

- This can be achieved by Observation, Management meeting, focus group, one to one interview, expert consultation.

• Quantitative Methods

Quantitative methods are useful in that they often take less time to administer than qualitative methods. They are also easier to evaluate and may produce clearer, more objective results.

- This can be achieved by pre existing records, self report studies, drug testing.