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Steps to Quality Improvement > Evaluation > Evaluation Purpose

What An Evalution Can Tell You

An evaluation can help answer three important groups of questions:

1. How well is the program running?

    • Is it being implemented as planned?
    • Do staff contribute as intended?
    • Is it running efficiently?

These questions focus on the program’s processes and are generally the easiest to answer, largely because the QI team knows what it has done and what resources have been used.

For the IDC program, the QI team may want to know:

  • The amount of time spent staffing the telephone outreach component
  • Whether the phone numbers in the patient database are accurate
  • Whether language information in the database is accurate so that Spanish-speaking patients receive their first telephone call from a Spanish-speaking nurse.

2. Is the program successful?

  • Is it having the desired results?
  • Should it be continued?
  • Is it worth the investment of time and resources?

While it may appear that these questions can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no,” in practice the answers may be more nuanced.

In the IDC program, some results may be achieved more readily than others.

  • The program could be successful at improving HbA1c testing rates because the outreach nurses are skilled at convincing patients of the need for such testing, but the program might have difficulty with the more complex task of helping patients improve their blood sugar control.
  • The program could be successful for one group of patients but not another, allowing disparities to persist or increase.
  • The program could be successful, but at too high a cost to continue.

3. What factors contribute to the program’s success?

  • What are its strengths and weaknesses?
  • What aspects should be continued or enhanced, and what additions are needed?
  • What should be discontinued or deemphasized?

These questions can be more difficult to answer but are important to understanding why the program works as it does. Without this information, it is difficult to know which aspects of the program need continued investment and what is required to adapt the program for use in other areas.