QI Tools and resources

Resources to help your team complete QI

Model for Improvement (MFI) 

The MFI is a simple, tried and tested approach to achieving successful change. It offers the following benefits:

• It is a method to plan, develop and implement change that anyone can apply.

• It reduces risk by testing small changes before wider implementation.

• You can achieve team unity on common goals.

• It encourages individual creativity and ideas from team members.

Developed by Associates in Process Improvement, the model has two parts:

The ‘thinking’ part - Three fundamental questions that are essential for guiding improvement:

1. What are we trying to accomplish?

2. How will we know that change is an improvement?

3. What changes can we make that will result in improvement?

The ‘doing’ part - Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to test and adapt changes.

The PDSA cycle is a method for testing and learning how changes work in a local setting.

It involves four steps:

This cycle is repeated as needed to refine changes and determine if they lead to improvement. In most improvement projects, teams test several different changes, with each change undergoing multiple PDSA cycles to continue learning. It’s important to fill out a PDSA worksheet for each test and keep a record. The MFI and PDSA template provided, includes multiple PDSA worksheets to support this.

QI register

 The QI register is designed to be used as a summary record of all QI activities that your primary care team undertake. Record the details of your QI activities (including dates of activity, topic, measures and whether PDSA cycles have been documented). There is an example included in the register.

QI plan

The QI plan is designed to support your practice to consider all areas you would like to improve over a 12-month period. Document in the plan the timeframe for the QI focus, what you will use to measure your improvement, who in the team is responsible and once completed document the outcome.

QI target posters

There are a number of target posters available that practices can display in their treatment room, lunch room or anywhere in the practice. These posters are to encourage team communication and participation in the QI initiative.

• OVID Target Poster

• HPV Target Poster

• Influenza Target Poster

• Pneumococcal Target Poster

• Shingles Target Poster

• Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Target Posters

• Health Assessments 45 Target Poster

• Health Assessments 75 Target Poster

• Heart Check Target Poster

• National Cancer Screening Target Posters

• Cervical Screening Target Posters

• NCSR Target Posters

• Bowel Screening Target Poster

Practice Resources

Update Your Lifestyle Information

Keeping lifestyle information up to date helps provide better patient care. Regularly updating a patient's BMI, smoking status, alcohol intake, and physical activity supports preventive health, chronic disease management, and accurate clinical records.

Data analysis tools  

Brisbane South PHN has committed to adopting Primary Sense – a population health management, clinical decision support and data extraction tool. Primary Sense has been developed by GPs, for GPs and:      

• is easy to use

• can be quickly installed

• provides real time medication safety alerts, patient care prompts and near real time data extractions

• remains free for general practices that share data with Brisbane South PHN

• all data extracted from Primary Sense is privacy protected, securely stored and managed in Australia.  

QI toolkits

Brisbane South PHN has developed 34 quality improvement toolkits for general practices, covering a range of topics:  

1.      General quality improvement

2.      Specific conditions

3.      Mental health

4.      Prevention

5.      Patient populations 

6.      Quality records and business 

7.      Planning and management of pandemics and disasters.  

Modules included in these toolkits are designed to support practices to achieve the PIP QI requirements.  

As practice teams complete the activities within the toolkits, they are shown how to analyse practice data, to develop comprehensive knowledge about their patient population and the care pathways being provided in their practice. Reflections from completion of these activities and the related data may support the identification of improvement opportunities that can be actioned using the Model for Improvement.  

Note: The QI toolkits are in the process of being updated to allow you to search for your patients in Primary Sense. Feel free to use these resources and use the data sources that you have available at your practice. If you need assistance with this, contact the QI team at [email protected]

MFI/PDSA examples  

Contact us for more support

Our Quality Improvement Team works with general practices to provide practical advice and resources to help plan, implement, and review your QI activities. To request further practice support, please contact the Quality Improvement team on Phone: 3864 7540 or email: [email protected].  

Our team provides the best possible support for your practice.