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Certificate of Added Qualification in Healthcare Improvement (CAQHI) Program

LEVEL: ADVANCED
For questions, please contact the I-QIPS Team

Program Offerings


Concluded:


Program Overview

This advanced-level certificate program is comprised of two (2) QI training courses conducted by the I-QIPS and one (1) approved capstone project, as reflected in Figure 1 below. As part of the curriculum, enrolled learners work on their self-selected QI project (pre-approved and supported by their leadership) throughout the term of the CAQHI Program. In doing so, they systematically develop and move their projects closer to implementation by applying in real-time the concepts and methodologies learned from session to session and course to course.

The CAQHI Program is offered annually and begins with the QI Jump Start course in the fall, followed by the Leading Healthcare Improvement course in the spring. Each course must be taken through the I-QIPS and completed successfully before the learner may progress to each subsequent step of the certificate program, as described below.

Completion of the capstone project is expected by the end of Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement (or within a few weeks thereafter), with its final submission by June 30 (unless otherwise indicated), which typically is within a month or so from the conclusion of Course 2.


Eligibility

Learners are enrolled to the CAQHI Program through a formal application selection process. When applications are open, a Call for Applications is posted above, as well as announced by the College. If you would like to be notified directly via email, select the subscribe button on the I-QIPS Home Page to receive I-QIPS news and announcements.

An accepted application to the CAQHI Program provides automatic enrollment in both of the required courses (separate/additional applications for the two courses do not need to be submitted), provided that the enrolled learner successfully completes/satisfies stated requirements for each course and the overall certificate program.

CAQHI Program applicants should meet all of the following requirements:

  • Program Prerequisite: An enrolled learner in the CAQHI Program begins the certificate program with enrollment in Course 1: QI Jump Start, an intermediate-level QI training course. As such, the following prerequisite, as stated for the QI Jump Start course, applies also to the CAQHI Program applicant:

    The applicant must have successfully completed QI Foundations: The Basics (or equivalent), which provides foundational-level QI training and is comprised of a series of self-paced, online modules and videos, prepared by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, that BCM or affiliated learners may access at any time. Those participating in the QI Jump Start course would benefit from arriving to the first session with a strong familiarity of the foundational-level tools and resources provided via the noted training. (Source: Prerequisite for Course 1: QI Jump Start)

    In order to progress in the certificate program, the CAQHI Program learner must successfully complete Course 1, as a prerequisite for subsequent enrollment in Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement, an advanced-level course.

  • Affiliation: The applicant must be current faculty, fellow/advanced trainee, or staff at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) or a BCM-affiliated institution (unless other arrangements have been made with the I-QIPS Leadership Team prior to application submission).
  • QI Project: The applicant must be able to describe a concrete, leadership-approved improvement project that can be developed, implemented, and completed over the term of the CAQHI Program (across the two program-required courses). Enrolled learners will work on their respective projects during the courses, developing the project further with each course session by applying the concepts and knowledge gained from the sessions. The project can be an initiative that the applicant currently is pursuing or will concurrently begin at the start of the CAQHI Program/Course 1: QI Jump Start. However, in order to meet CAQHI Capstone submission requirements and deadline, the selected project must be in an area in which the applicant has substantial control and can likely complete by the end of Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement.

    Note: If you do not have a suitable improvement project at this time, you are encouraged to apply for a future offering of the CAQHI Program, when you have an appropriate project confirmed and approved. In the meantime, you are invited and encouraged to complete the QI Foundations: The Basics training, if you have not already done so; the training is self-paced and offered online.
  • Letter of Support: The applicant must have a Letter of Support (LOS) from a clinical champion in the clinical area that they are seeking to improve through their selected QI project (i.e., the area in which their project will be implemented). The LOS should confirm that the applicant has the full support of their supervisor/leadership/clinical champion to participate in the course, should their application be selected.

    Their confirmed support should include the following: resources necessary for the success of the approved QI Project, applicant's full participation in the entire CAQHI Program (including BOTH courses), and applicant's time needed to be successful in the program (e.g., attend ALL course sessions, complete assignments, work on furthering their improvement project throughout the term of the program, etc.) and to successfully meet Capstone Project submission requirements and deadline.


Goal and Target Audience

The overall educational goal of this advanced-level certificate program is to provide hands-on training and experience at both the project and leadership levels of healthcare improvement initiatives.

The CAQHI Program is designed for learners with an introductory to intermediate knowledge of healthcare improvement concepts, who want to lead change within their healthcare system, and who have a particular interest in:

  • obtaining hands-on experience in applying to their own projects the learned principles of improvement science, and
  • pursuing additional training in leading healthcare improvement initiatives.

The CAQHI Program is open to BCM and affiliated faculty, fellows/advanced trainees, and staff at no charge; although, space is limited. Program participants are selected through a formal application process.


Learning Objectives

By the end of the CAQHI Program, learners should be able to address the following items, as organized by core competency areas:

  1. Interprofessional Collaboration and Teamwork
    • Identify relevant team members to improve a stated healthcare problem
    • Demonstrate an understanding of one’s own role and those of other disciplines to advance the health of populations within the context of a healthcare improvement project

  2. Organization and System Leadership
    • Use theories to explain and guide the interactions within and between health system components
    • Communicate the value of change to diverse stakeholders and consumers of healthcare improvement information
    • Understand how strategic leaders adapt healthcare organizations to meet the demands of organizational environments

  3. Improvement and Implementation Science
    • Identify and justify scientific evidence that is ready for translation into practice
    • Use improvement and implementation to promote sustainable healthcare practice change
    • Use health care information systems to support healthcare improvement, innovation, and implementation
    • Evaluate and analyze implementation strategies

  4. Methodological Skills and Analytic Techniques for Improvement and Implementation
    • Demonstrate ability to conceptually and operationally define measures (process, outcome, and balancing) that are aligned with aims and change ideas (interventions/exposures)
    • Demonstrate ability to develop, implement, and evaluate data collection plans
    • Utilize appropriate methods to analyze data


Content and Delivery

The educational content and its delivery for this advanced-level certificate program is based on that provided through the required QI training courses conducted by the I-QIPS, as follows:

  • Course 1: QI Jump Start - To view educational content and delivery for this intermediate-level course, visit the QI Jump Start Overview page.
  • Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement (LHI) - To view educational content and delivery for this advanced-level course, visit the LHI Course Overview page.


Criteria for Completion

In order to remain enrolled in the CAQHI Program, learners must successfully complete the following steps, with each step serving as a prerequisite and Program requirement for the next:

  • Step 1 - Complete I-QIPS Course 1: QI Jump Start - This intermediate-level course builds upon foundational skills, as well as those concepts acquired from each course session. It includes a series of required (brief) course assessments, administered before the start of the course, immediately after the final session, and again about three months thereafter, for learners to provide updates regarding the progress of their projects, as related to the training received from the course.

  • The topics covered in the course include, but are not limited to, the following: systems/design thinking and redesign, models for healthcare improvement, basic measures and tools for conducting quality improvement (QI), adult learning theory and mentoring, and QI scholarship.

    The successful completion of the QI Jump Start course is based on the stated Criteria for Completion described on the QI Jump Start Course Overview page, where the following course information also is provided: Goal and Target, Audience, Learning Objectives, Content, Delivery, Accreditation and Credit Designation, Evaluation.

  • Step 2 - Complete I-QIPS Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement (LHI) - This advanced-level leadership training course is designed to develop leaders of interprofessional improvement teams within their clinical settings. Each course session is designed to build upon the content, activities, and assignments from its previous sessions, and a series of required (brief) course assessments is administered before the start of the course, immediately after the final session, and about three months thereafter, for learners to provide updates regarding the progress of their projects, as related to the training received from the course.

  • The topics covered in the course include, but are not limited to, the following: transformational goals, effective leadership, identifying internal and external stakeholders essential to change projects, cultural barriers and facilitators of organizational change.

    The successful completion of the LHI course is based on the stated Criteria for Completion described on the LHI Course Overview page, where the following course information also is provided: Goal and Target, Audience, Learning Objectives, Content, Delivery, Accreditation and Credit Designation, Evaluation.

  • Step 3 - Complete and Submit Capstone Project - As the final requirement of the CAQHI Program, each enrolled learner is responsible for completing and submitting one (1) approved healthcare improvement capstone project.

    The successful completion of the capstone project is based on the continuity of the project (in its development and implementation) across the two required courses, as well as based on the stated requirements and criteria described in the respective Capstone Submission Instructions provided for a given CAQHI Program offering/group (e.g., Fall 2021, Group: CAQHI-1; Fall 2022, Group: CAQHI-2), which includes the following information:

    • Capstone Submission Form
    • Project Requirement
    • Submission Requirement
    • Evaluation Criteria

    For the capstone submission deadline and instructions for a given CAQHI Program offering/group, learners should refer to the above Program Offerings list and select the respective offering in which they are enrolled.


Program Completion Certificate

At the discretion of the I-QIPS Leadership Team, completion certificates for the CAQHI Program are awarded to eligible learners/course participants to confirm their satisfactory completion of all program requirements. A learner's eligibility to receive a completion certificate is impacted by their successful completion of both program-required courses and their capstone project (including its on-time submission and alignment with all stated requirements and criteria), as described in the Criteria for Completion section above.

Final certificate decisions are made only after all described program requirements have been completed across all enrolled learners.


Accreditation and Credit Designation

AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Credit is available for each of the required courses:

  • Course 1: QI Jump Start - To view accreditation and credit designation for this intermediate-level course, visit the QI Jump Start Course Overview page.
  • Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement (LHI) - To view accreditation and credit designation for this advanced-level course, visit the LHI Course Overview page.


Program Evaluation

Evaluation of this certificate program is provided through each of the required courses:

  • Course 1: QI Jump Start - To view evaluation information for this intermediate-level course, visit the QI Jump Start Course Overview page.
  • Course 2: Leading Healthcare Improvement (LHI) - To view evaluation information for this advanced-level course, visit the LHI Course Overview page.