This article is the second in a three-part series on quality improvement in health care. The first article, “What is Quality Improvement?”, defined this field of study and provided a brief history of its origins.  In this article, we will define “quality” and briefly describe tools often used to achieve improved quality in health-care delivery. What do we mean by “high-quality” care? Health-care organizations around the country are striving to improve the care …

As physicians involved in Quality Improvement (QI) work, we are often asked by colleagues  and learners, “What is QI exactly?”  And this makes sense, given that few resources exist for those unfamiliar with the concepts and goals of QI.  Here, we hope to provide any health-care professional with the introductory knowledge to better understand how and why QI became so important in healthcare, and what this means for the future of health-care delivery. …