Our History

First established in 2014, as a partnership of hospitals in Illinois and the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) with the shared goal of improving surgical quality and safety for their patients, the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative (ISQIC) has grown upward to 55 hospitals over the years, that includes major academic centers, community hospitals, trauma centers, and rural hospitals.

ISQIC’s approach to quality improvement is unique in that it provides a comprehensive framework for Quality Improvement Collaboratives (QICs) to follow. This framework has been used to develop and implement several quality improvement initiatives across the state of Illinois. ISQIC has also been involved in research to evaluate the effectiveness of its approach to quality improvement. This research has used mixed methods including site visits to member hospitals, surveys, interviews, and quantitative analyses of process and outcomes data. Ultimately, ISQIC’s approach to quality improvement has the potential to drive significant improvements in surgical quality and safety outcomes, and its research efforts are helping to ensure that this potential is realized.

Evaluating the Collaborative’s Success

In recent years, hospital Quality Improvement Collaboratives (QICs) have become increasingly popular. These collaboratives are groups of hospitals that join to share knowledge, benchmark performance, and improve common quality and safety issues. While standardized data collection and sharing of comparative performance data are common features of QICs, they are not enough to drive improvement in quality and safety.

However, ISQIC is a different type of QIC, where the collaborative provides a comprehensive and methodical strategy for enhancing healthcare quality and safety.

ISQIC’s approach is unique in that it provides a comprehensive framework for QICs to follow. It incorporates 21 elements spanning five domains: guidance, education, feedback, projects, and funding. These elements are grounded in extensive research, thorough evaluations, knowledge from past QICs, and expertise in quality improvement. The five domains are designed to work together to create a cohesive and effective QIC. The guided implementation domain provides support and guidance to hospitals as they implement quality improvement initiatives. The education domain ensures that all participants have the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to the QIC. The hospital- and surgeon-level comparative feedback domain provides hospitals with data on their performance relative to other hospitals. The annual local and statewide QI projects domain encourages hospitals to work together on projects that will benefit the entire community. Finally, the funding domain provides financial support to hospitals that participate in the QIC.

By providing a comprehensive framework for QICs to follow, ISQIC has the potential to drive significant improvements in quality and safety outcomes.

Read more about the success of ISQIC in this recently published journal article Development of the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative (ISQIC): Implementing 21 Components to Catalyze Statewide.