Selecting clinical quality improvement projects: getting a bigger return for your investment

An urban medical center developed and implemented a process for selecting clinical quality-improvement projects. The process was designed to select projects that would deliver greater returns than had previous projects. The four-step process involved: (1) establishing project selection criteria, (2) identifying potential projects, (3) assigning points and ranking projects, and (4) selecting projects based on rank and available resources. This process won physician commitment and secured administrative support. It identified projects that had unprecedented success in improving clinical outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction, and reducing cost.