Fundamentals in Quality Improvement

• Improving Case Management and Specialist Referral
• Decreasing patient wait times
• Decreasing no show rates
• Improve screening rates

A BCCQ alumni clinic used strategies learned in our Fundamentals in Quality Improvement course to meaningfully engage key clinic staff who had not been involved in QI efforts previously – their case managers. The team used a collaborative approach to identify several barriers to effective, efficient specialist referral and selected three barriers to address through internal change processes. The team was able to implement straight-forward solutions to all three barriers. The team credited their success to the cooperation fostered between management, case managers, and front desk staff, and the high value placed on input of the front line staff. At the end of the program, the team planned to further address the identified barriers, identify work flow for referrals, write clear policies and procedures, streamline the forms used by case managers, and improve the screening procedure for determining eligibility requirements. They also hoped to spread the change processes to another clinic site.

Example Project Outcomes from Fundamentals in Quality Improvement Participants:

• Decrease no-show rates: Decreased no show rates from 22% to 10% by implementing reminder calls.
• Decrease cycle time: Decreased cycle times by 54% through improved communication and information exchange across clinic teams.
• Increase percentage of diabetic patients with up-to-date labs: Increased the percentage of diabetic patients with up-to-date labs by 22% through implementing reminder letters and dedicating staff time to do patient calls.
• Improve eligibility and enrollment process: Implemented a standardized eligibility matrix for enrolling patients in different programs which decreased cycle times and improved front-office communication.