Research Activities - Quality Improvement

The North Carolina Improving Performance In Practice initiative is instrumental in assisting the Internal Medicine and Family Medicine outpatient clinics to achieve improved patient care. A Quality Improvement Consultant guides the practice to redesign specific systems to meet guidelines (such as posters in the exam room reminding diabetic patients to remove their shoes as a prompt for physicians/nurses to conduct a foot exam).

While IPIP is practice-based, residents may choose to replace traditional epidemiological research with individual or group quality improvement (QI) projects. QI projects can both mimic research studies and fulfill the "Practice Based Learning and Improvement" competency, by teaching residents how to evaluate the needs of their practice, explore possible solutions, and test the efficacy of those solutions.

Examples of QI projects conducted by residents include:

• Pre-operative Surgical Checklists and Appropriate Timing of Antibodies
• Pre-operative Preparations for Cesarean Section
• OB-STAT - Shoulder Dystocia
• Improving Glycemic Control in Outpatient Diabetics
• Implementation of a Protocol to Improve Opiate Pain Contract Regulation
• Use of Flow Sheets to Increase Quality of Asthmatic Control
• The Effect of Quality Improvement Interventions on Diabetics