title: The effectiveness of a multicenter quality improvement collaborative in reducing inpatient mortality.
abstract: This study examines the evidence that a particular quality improvement collaborative that focused on Quality, Efficiency, Safety and Transparency (QUEST) was able to improve hospital performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  The collaborative included a range of improvement vehicles, such as sharing customized comparative reports, conducting online best practices forums, using 90-day rapid-cycle initiatives to test specific interventions, and conducting face-to-face meetings and quarterly one-on-one coaching sessions to elucidate opportunities.
  
  
  METHODS
  With these kinds of activities in mind, the objective was to test for the presence of an overall "QUEST effect" via statistical analysis of mortality results that spanned 6 years (2006-2011) for more than 600 acute care hospitals from the Premier alliance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The existence of a QUEST effect was confirmed from complementary approaches that include comparison of matched samples (collaborative participants against controls) and multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study concludes with a discussion of those methods that were plausible reasons for the successes.
authors: From the Premier, Inc, Charlotte, NC, and Leonard Davis Institute of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
authors: Eugene
authors: E
authors: Kroch
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Duan
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Martin
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Bankowitz
authors: Marla
authors: M
authors: Kugel
mesh_terms: D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States