The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released today a free toolkit designed to guide hospitals through the process of using the AHRQ Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQIs) and Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) to improve care. The AHRQ Quality IndicatorsTM Toolkit for Hospitals is designed and tested to meet the needs of a variety of hospital-based users, including senior leaders, quality staff, and multistakeholder improvement teams. AHRQ developed these research-based tools through a 2-year contract with RAND in collaboration with UHC.

The toolkit includes an “Introduction and Roadmap” to help users identify the resources that are best suited to their specific needs at any given point in the improvement process. It is organized into seven sections:

1. Determining Readiness To Change
2. Applying QIs to the Hospital Data
3. Identifying Priorities for Quality Improvement
4. Implementing Improvements
5. Monitoring Progress for Sustainable Improvements
6. Analyzing Return on Investment
7. Using Other Resources

To download the toolkit, click here.

To learn more about the toolkit from the developers and hear from a quality expert at a hospital that tested it, register for a free AHRQ-sponsored Webinar on February 15 from 12:30-2:00 p.m. MST