Education in QI and Computation is Key
THE VALUE OF EDUCATION
There is great value in a sound education. This fact is no less true in the science of quality improvement. Here's a quote by W. Edwards Deming that relates to the importance of knowledge and its acquisition: "It is not enough to do your best. You must know what to do and then do your best." In short, one must learn how to do quality improvement before one is able to do it, and it takes training and individual practice and practice as a group to do it well and to perform at a high level.
EDUCATING YOUR WORKFORCE
Here is a second quote, this one by Pearl Zhu, from her book Quality Master: "Quality management starts with building a high quality workforce." Therefore, building a workforce, educated in quality improvement methods, is the first step in establishing an effective quality improvement program. Only workers properly educated in quality improvement methods are truly free to do it well. In this post, we identify two factors that are vital to successful quality improvement initiatives.
CONTINUING EDUCATION ON QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Educational emphasis on practical, real-world experience of implementing quality improvement initiatives is key. In my view, intuitively, education on effective methods should precede and inform those experiences. What if you don't have access to education on QI methods? High quality continuing education on QI methods is available at https://www.outfigreducation.com/continuing-education/quality-improvement, where you can learn about the steps and accompanying methods to QI project success.
CONTINUING EDUCATION ON DATA SCIENCE
Additionally, I would add that quantitative reasoning and analysis is extremely important to successful quality improvement education and practice. Measurement is a key competency for clinical quality improvement work, and quantitative analysis is required in the vast majority of quality improvement projects. Frankly, without proper statistical analysis one cannot achieve the first objective in evaluating quality improvement effectiveness - that is, determining whether an actual change has occurred. So one must have at least some statistical training or professional support to answer quantitative questions appropriately. What if you don't have access to education on data science? High quality continuing education on statistical analysis methods and data science is available at https://www.outfigreducation.com/continuing-education/data-science.
LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF DATA ANALYTICS
One of the things I would say about statistics and data analytics, generally, is that data analytics is a necessary language, just like English, in a way. It's a methodical way to express certain types of ideas. So, if we are doing quality improvement work, it is an essential language for us to tell our compelling data stories. Everyone involved in the work of Quality improvement, should be fluent in this language, or the team should include a professional data translator, or statistician. Would like to develop custom data analytics and QI training for your team? Contact OUTFIGR to discuss your custom data analytics education needs here: https://www.outfigreducation.com/continuing-education/consulting-course-development.
DATA ANALYSIS AND TRANSLATION SERVICES
What if you don't have your own statistician to ensure your data questions are answered appropriately? OUTFIGR offers clients data translation services and helps clients author their own quality improvement success stories. We also help you train your own to do the same, so that quality improvement becomes an integrated and organic part of your daily work. Contact us to book an appointment to discuss your data analysis needs here: https://www.outfigreducation.com/contact