Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation: A Primer for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Specialists

: Physiatrists in all practice settings can improve the care of rehabilitation patients through the rigorous application of quality improvement (QI) methodology. This primer provides a step-by-step guide to QI in rehabilitation settings for academic and community physiatrists, using the Model for Improvement. Key concepts discussed include Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, setting optimal aim statements and measures, involving the rehabilitation team, diagnostic tools to understand root causes of quality problems, selection of change concepts and ideas, and utilizing run charts for data analysis. A QI project focused on the secondary prevention of vascular complications in amputees with diabetes admitted to inpatient rehabilitation is used as an illustrative example throughout the primer.