Seeking Greater Value for Program Improvement

Welcome!

Many visitors to this page have completed the questionnaire for the Longitudinal Clinical Peer Review Effectiveness Study. If so, thank you for your participation. I deeply appreciate your contribution to this effort to advance knowledge in the field of medical management and your interest in doing more.

If not, thank you for your interest in getting involved now.

I am proposing three projects to validate and extend the results of the 2015 study questionnaire and invite your participation. All data submitted will be secured and held confidential.

See Data Use and Confidentiality Statement.

There are no fees for participation for study cohort hospitals.

Other hospitals may participate in these initiatives if they complete the survey. Use Guest login, contact me or call 860.521.8484 for more information. Regular fees apply to the Medical Staff Survey option. Otherwise, participation is free.

Peer Review Program Data

The Opportunity: Self-reported clinical peer review practices have never been cross-referenced to actual high-level program data

This project would represent the first step in fulfilling the vision of the Normative Peer Review Database Project.

In order to take the QI Model to the next level, we'll need timely data on what a variety of programs are actually doing along with the results. Since measurement is integral to process improvement, contribution creates a win-win. When you measure peer review process and outcomes, you will strengthen your ability to improve the process. Your contribution will return useful benchmarking information and support ongoing research on best practices.

  • Provide basic information about your hospital and peer review program for the period October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015.
  • Data definitions and measures are conveniently structured for you in an Excel 97 workbook: Program-Data-Request_2015.xls.
  • Save the file as Program-Data-[hospital name] before you enter data.
  • Upload your file using your survey login credentials.
  • Alternatively, use your hospital's secure email program to transfer your data file to: research@QAtoQI.com.
  • If at least 10 hospitals participate, you will receive a normative data report and a pre-print of any resulting publications.

Medical Staff Opinions

The Opportunity: Clinical peer review practices have never been cross-referenced to medical staff opinion poll data

Hospital and physician leaders want to strengthen their engagement with the medical staff, yet often struggle to make progress. Periodic anonymous medical staff surveys can help to monitor the pulse of the relationship and identify opportunities for improvement, if the questionnaire connects to fundamental issues of concern to physicians.

Many of the available survey vehicles come up short in this regard. Alignment is a hospital issue, not a physician issue. The relative importance of money and hospital services can be assumed in a business relationship. This leaves the quality and safety of care as the "Elephant in the Room" which has not been adequately addressed.

  • I have developed a brief online Medical Staff Opinion Survey that includes items related to peer review, quality and safety.
  • To make it easy for you to contribute to the ongoing research and also get valuable information about your medical staff's perceptions, I am offering it free to those who make a commitment by December 31, 2015 and complete the survey process by June 30, 2016.
  • Please contact me or call 860.521.8484 for more information.
  • If at least 10 hospitals participate, you will receive a normative data report and a pre-print of any resulting publications in addition to your raw data file.

Patient Safety Culture

The Opportunity: Clinical peer review practices have never been cross-referenced to measures of organizational culture

The widely-used AHRQ Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture primarily reflects nursing practice. Aggregate reports show a persistent culture of shame and blame comparable to that commonly found among physician peer review programs. Efforts to improve quality and safety could be enhanced by an understanding of the connection.

  • If your hospital has participated in the AHRQ Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture or its equivalent, please forward a copy of the aggregate results.
  • An electronic file (e.g., PDF) is preferred.
  • Upload your file using your survey login credentials.
  • Alternatively, use your hospital's secure email program to transfer your data file to: research@QAtoQI.com.
  • You will receive feedback on the major findings of the project and a pre-print of any resulting publications.

More Options

Ideal Peer Review Process Collaborative

Supports for Implementation of the QI Model

The Ideal Peer Review Process Collaborative may be attractive for those of you who might be positioned to organize a minimum of six hospitals to work together to adopt the best practice QI Model for peer review. The collaborative process promotes mutual support, shared learning and knowledge transfer while lowering the effort and cost of change.

The collaborative model has proven itself in a variety of quality improvement initiatives over the past few decades. Informed by the experiences of collaborative facilitators at the Michigan Hospital Association, my own work as a collaborative participant and my extensive experience in group facilitation, I have structured the Ideal Peer Review Process Collaborative around 3 half-day face-to-face sessions and 2-3 follow up conference calls. It addresses the practical problems involved in revising program structure, governance, policy/procedure and review forms along with the need to make adequate preparation for training and implementation. The plan could be readily adapted to the interests, requirements and constraints of many different groups.

Total costs for participation will depend on sponsorship factors, the location of the face-to-face sessions, the number of organizations, and the extent of in-kind resource contributions they might make. Participating organizations will have the option to license PREP-MSTM software at a substantial discount. Contact me for more information.

Self-Help Resources

To otherwise help promote the adoption of the best-practice QI Model, I have also extended a 50% first year license discount to survey participant hospitals for the My PREPTM Toolkit for Peer Review Program Improvement and PREP-MSTM Peer Review Program Management Software. See Professional Fees and Product Pricing for licensing details.

Many additional resources are available to help you: Clinical Peer Review Process Improvement

You might also consider contributing a brief summary of your own experience with improving peer review to the Clinical Peer Review Innovation Showcase

Best regards,

Marc's signature

Marc T. Edwards, MD, MBA

President & CEO

Principal Investigator

QA to QI Consulting

860.521.8484

marc@QAtoQI.com

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Data Use and Confidentiality Statement

All additional information which you provide will be kept confidential and will only be used for purposes of these studies. No hospital-identifiable data will be disclosed or publically reported. Participants can expect to receive feedback regarding the most significant aggregate results in addition to the specific promises made above.

Please email me or call 860.521.8484 if you have any questions.