National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
Search
Key Drivers
Change Strategies
EvidenceNOW: Tools and Resources
The Agency for Healthcare and Quality (AHRQ) offers practical, research-based tools and other resources to help a variety of health care origanizations, provider, and others make care safer in all health care settings. AHRQ's evidence-based tools and resources are used by organizations nationwide to improve the quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of health care. Improving health care quality by increasing the capacity of small primary care practices to implement the best clinical evidence is our aim. These tools and resources can be searched by the key drivers and the change strategies of the EvidenceNOW Key Driver Diagram.
Results
21 to 30 of 44 Tools and Resources DisplayedThis tool helps quality improvers write SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-limited global and specific) aims statements.
This template helps quality improvers develop key driver diagrams that identify the key drivers that will help them achieve their improvement goals, as well as change ideas – the specific actions that support each key driver.
This resource describes sources for selecting primary care performance measures, the importance of determining the appropriate numerators and denominators, and how to find and use benchmark data for quality improvement (QI) work.
In this podcast, Jim Campbell, MD, explores practical tools for implementing quality improvement activities and creating and sustaining a culture of quality in your organization.
This short article describes four coping stages that organizations go through when metrics show poor performance: denial of the data accuracy, denial there is a problem, deny accountability for the problem, and acceptance of responsibility.
This executive summary introduces the Model for Improvement and Lean. It addresses how to use measurement and data to drive improvement in primary care, optimize health information technology (IT), and spread and sustain change. It links to two implementation guides.
Based on Lean structured problem-solving methods, this tool uses root cause analysis, diagramming process changes, and measuring implementation progress and effectiveness of changes to help primary care practices maximize efficiency and good outcomes.
This primer includes short descriptions of the following continuous quality improvement (QI) approaches: Model for Improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, and the Baldridge Quality Model.
This case study of a primary care practice provides insight into the clinic’s quality improvement project to improve blood pressure control. It highlights the steps in the quality improvement (QI) process, future measures, and lessons learned.
This toolkit consists of 10 tools and templates—with instructions and examples—for primary care practices to use to improve quality. Tools include: cause and effect diagram, failure modes and effects analysis, histogram, Pareto chart, and scatter diagram.