Launching a quality improvement project in neurosurgery: How to get started

In healthcare, quality improvement (QI) is a combined effort among healthcare professionals and other stakeholders to diagnose process-related problems and devise solutions that will improve patient outcomes and healthcare system performance. Within healthcare systems, there are endless opportunities to tackle safety and quality gaps. Quality improvement projects in healthcare should engage healthcare workers and focus on processes, with the end goal of improving patient care. The projects should also be evidence-based, actionable, and sustainable. The goal of this work is to provide an overview of three common frameworks for conducting a quality improvement project: The Model for Improvement, Lean, and Six Sigma. We will take a deeper dive into the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology for Six Sigma and provide a case example. The tools discussed can be used to launch a QI project for the benefit of neurosurgical patients.