The Partnership for Advancing Quality Together (PAQT) will build on AHRQ-funded quality improvement (QI) and bioterrorism research to contribute to the knowledge base about successfully implementing initiatives to improve quality, enhance safety and security, and expand understanding of how best to take research and knowledge into everyday practice. To carry out PAQT activities, RTI will collaborate with 4 systems that are core members of RTI's Integrated Delivery System Research Network--lntermountain Health Care, Providence Health System, the UPMC Health System, and the UNC Health Care System--that collectively cover a wide geographic area and substantial patient population. We will plan Phase 2 interventions in Phase 1. We will also develop a report from case study data to explicate critical issues related to the transportability of QI and bioterrorism preparedness interventions. The purpose of this report is to maximize successful modeling when implementing interventions across clinical settings. The PAQT will implement and appraise 2 QI and 2 bioterrorism preparedness interventions using existing models. We will disseminate findings from conceptual development and evaluation of inputs, outputs, and short-term outcomes of the modeled intervention efforts. Through the initial planning of this work (Phase 1) and the implementation and assessment (Phase 2), we will accomplish the following specific aims: (1) make an existing research network even stronger by promoting sharing of local innovations affecting the quality of health care for a large number of individuals across the country; (2) explore factors that facilitate and impede inter- and intra-organizational sharing of knowledge, clarify key attributes of interventions that foster (or militate against) sustainability and their short-run outcomes, and test the transportability of program innovations; (3) extend the breadth and depth of the evidence base for innovative, sustainable QI programs; and (4) strengthen organizational programs targeted on bioterrorism and security preparedness using the concepts, constructs, and proven procedures from these QI efforts and underlying information technology. Across these aims, we will document our interventions, findings, and lessons learned so that we can describe and analyze them in ways conducive to knowledge dissemination and publication as well as supporting program evaluation efforts.
