RESEARCH REFLECTIONS Exploring the challenges of ethical conduct in quality improvement projects
Abstract
Quality improvement (QI) and clinical research projects both play increasingly important roles in healthcare to improve and enhance patient care. Quality improvement projects in healthcare are critical for improving internal organizational systems and processes to enhance outcomes and deliver safer, cost-effective, and efficient healthcare (Hagen et al., 2007; Newhouse, Pettit, Poe, & Rocco, 2006). Clinical research projects use the scientific method to systematically investigate a health-related problem or phenomenon to lead to generalizable knowledge and potentially lead to new discoveries to impact patient care and healthcare systems. As rigorous QI projects and clinical research projects become the norm in driving healthcare improvements, the binary of research versus QI has become less clear (Newhouse et al., 2006). The intent to publish is no longer sufficient for determining whether a QI activity is research (Casarett, Karlawish, & Sugarman, 2000).
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