Module 2 of 4: Writing a QI Proposal

Dr. Williams has served as the Associate Program Director at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood New Jersey since 2014. She teaches Quality Improvement and actively mentors residents and faculty in the longitudinal Quality Improvement curriculum at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. Formerly an Academic Hospitalist at Morristown Medical Center, she developed a Transitions of Care Rotation for interns and redesigned the traditional Morbidity and Mortality Conference. She received her MD degree from Howard University in Washington, DC and completed a Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency including a Chief Resident year at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Williams is a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine and an alumna of the 2013 SHM Quality and Safety Educators Academy.

Karyn Baum, MD, works in both quality improvement education and clinical operations. She is the Senior Consultant for the Educating for Quality initiative at the Association of American Medical Colleges, which seeks to support teaching organizations better integrate quality improvement work and education. At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Baum is the Associate Chair for Clinical Improvement for the Department of Medicine, overseeing all aspects of quality and safety including education and mentorship of junior faculty. She also leads many quality improvement projects as the Executive Medical Director of Care Transitions and Patient Flow at the University of Minnesota, including capacity, length of stay, and handoff work. She led the development of an interprofessional teamwork course for students from six health professions at the University of Minnesota. She was the Director of the University of Minnesota TeamSTEPPS Training Resource Center, an AHRQ-funded site which trains clinical staff in an evidence-based teamwork curriculum designed to improve patient safety. In this role she has overseen the certification of over 1500 trainers from throughout the United States and worldwide. In the past Karyn has acted as the CME Director for the Department of Medicine and the Medical Director of the Medical/Surgical unit and Utilization Management at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Baum has traveled throughout the United States and internationally including Japan and Iceland to speak and train others in this critical area of patient safety.

I am a PGY-2 Internal Medicine Resident at Harlem Hospital. I was introduced to QI at a CIR-sponsored QI clinic. Our QI project focused on Reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections at Harlem Hospital Center. It was a very interesting experience and it was fun finding ways to improve patient safety at our specific institution. We collaborated with nursing and infection control in promoting staff awareness, proper practices and advocated a change to the EMR that restricted catheter usage to specific indications. After a series of PDSA cycles, it was very fulfilling seeing a fall in the rate of catheter utilization and CAUTIs. 

Since this initial experience, I have been to QI conferences and have worked on other QI projects. I would encourage residents at all levels to get involved in Quality Improvement.