Quality Improvement Flashcards

A CBP clinic finds that follow-up radiographs are taken inconsistently after a corrective care plan. Which QI tool best identifies the underlying causes?

Answer: Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram

A fishbone diagram organizes possible causes into categories so the team can find the root causes of a process problem.

In the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle, what happens during the 'Study' phase?

Answer: Results are compared with predictions and analyzed

The Study phase compares observed results with predicted results to see whether the change led to improvement.

Which outcome measure is a validated patient-reported tool for neck pain-related disability?

Answer: Neck Disability Index

The Neck Disability Index is a validated self-report questionnaire for disability caused by neck pain.

Why does CBP technique use standardized radiographic positioning for pre- and post-treatment films?

Answer: To make sure measured changes reflect real structural change, not positioning error

Repeatable patient positioning reduces measurement error, so changes in alignment between films can be trusted.

A practice tracks the percentage of new patients who finish their initial corrective care plan. This metric is best described as a(n):

Answer: Process measure

Care plan completion tracks whether a care process was carried out, which makes it a process measure in the Donabedian model.

Which statistic is most appropriate for assessing inter-examiner reliability of continuous radiographic angle measurements?

Answer: Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)

The ICC measures agreement between raters for continuous data such as Cobb or absolute rotation angles.

A clinic sets a goal: 'Reduce average time from intake to report of findings to 48 hours within 3 months.' This goal best fits which framework?

Answer: SMART goals

The goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, which are the SMART criteria.