Measurement is essential to monitoring success and helps guide your team towards your specific intervention goal. Measurement also tells us what's working and what's not, and provides evidence to inspire other healthcare providers to improve the quality of patient safety. 

The measurement methodology and recommendations regarding sampling size referenced in this GSK, is based on The Model for Improvement and is designed to accelerate the pace of improvement using the PDSA cycle;  a "trial and learn" approach to improvement  based on the scientific method. Langley, G., Nolan, K., Nolan, T., Norman, C., Provost, L. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance. San Francisco, Second Edition, CA. Jossey-Bass Publishers. 2009.

It is not intended to provide the same rigor that might be applied in a research study, but rather offers an efficient way to help a team understand how a system is performing. When choosing a sample size for your intervention, it is important to consider the purposes and uses of the data and to acknowledge when reporting that the findings are based on an "x" sample as determined by the team.

The scope or scale (amount of sampling, testing, or time required) of a test should be decided according to:

1. The team's degree of belief that the change will result in improvement
2. The risks from a failed test
3. Readiness of those who will have to make the change

Provost, Lloyd P; Murray, Sandra (2011-08-26). The Health Care Data Guide: Learning from Data for Improvement (Kindle Locations 1906-1909). Wiley. Kindle Edition.

Please refer to the Improvement Frameworks GSK (2015) for additional information.

Measurement Worksheets (Measures) and Data Collection Forms (DCF)

MedRec Quality Audit

The MedRec Quality Audit tool can be used by acute care and long term care organizations to measure the quality of the basic elements of their MedRec process on admission.  These data will be helpful in identifying specific elements in need of process improvement and potentially reducing the occurrence of preventable drug events.

MedRec (Acute Care and Long Term Care) Quality Audit

MedRec Quality Audit Tools - Admission

MedRec Quality Audit Tools – Discharge

MedRec (Acute Care) Measures

MedRec (Home Care) Measures

MedRec (Long Term Care) Measures

Types of Measures

Safer Healthcare Now! (SHN) has two types of measures for each of the interventions: process measures and outcome measures. Some interventions also have balancing measures and information measures. Below are examples of each.

Outcome measures - answers whether the team is achieving what it is trying to accomplish and articulates the picture of success. For example, if the team wants to reduce falls it should measure the number of falls.

Process measures - Processes which directly affect the outcome are measured to ensure that all key changes are being implemented to impact the outcome measure. For example, the delivery of timely prophylactic antibiotics to reduce surgical site infection.

Balancing measures - answer the question whether improvements in one part of the system were made at the expense of other processes in other parts of the system. For example, in a project to reduce the average length of stay for a group of patients, the team should also monitor the percent of readmissions within 30 days for the same group.

Information measures - collect general details relative to the intervention.