Quality Improvement (QI)

Systematic, data-guided activities designed to bring about immediate improvements in health care delivery in particular settings. Although most QI activities are not research as understood by those who framed the human subjects protection regulations, some QI activities are genuine QI and research hybrids (i.e., systematic investigations designed to bring about local improvement in health care delivery and develop generalizable knowledge simultaneously) that require Institutional Review Board (IRB) review. Hastings Center Special Report: The Ethics of using QI Methods to Improve Health Care Quality and Safety