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GUIDELINES FOR DIFFERENTIATING RESEARCH FROM QUALITY
IMPROVEMENT
Section A
Quality
- Is a risk involved for
subjects (patients, staff, students or volunteers)?
- Is the intent to ask a
new question that will improve or expand knowledge with some generalizability?
- Is a new therapy, program,
or practice to be compared with standard approaches to determine which
is better?
- Are new technologies,
interventions, or assessment tools to be compared with those used in
providing standard care? (i.e., these new interventions deviate significantly
from standard practice.)
- Does the patient’s
involvement change their relationship with the care-giver in regards
to patient care?
If yes to one or more of
these questions, the project may require ethical and scientific review
as a research proposal.
Alternately affirmative confirmation
of the following questions may suggest a quality improvement project.
Section
B Research
- Is a change in therapy,
program, or practice an extension of standard care (could include a
deviation from normal care where good rationale for the change is already
available)?
- Is patient /staff satisfaction
to be evaluated relative to existing practice?
- Is a measurement tool
for evaluation regularly used in clinical practice?
- Is data gathering intended
to confirm existing standards?
- Is this development of
a new program or refinement of an existing program, with formative or
summative evaluation?
- Is a new technology, intervention,
or measurement tool supported by good rationale in the literature, experience
of other professionals, etc.?
From:
Thurston, N.E., Watson, L. A., & Reimer, M.A.; (1993)JONA (7/8), p.
47
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