Introduction 

Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Database

 

Plan Do Study Act cycles provide a simple tool that practices can use to develop and trial quality improvement activities.  The focus of PDSAs is on implementing small scale changes that can be measured and reviewed to assess their outcomes and determine any further actions.  Documenting these activities helps practices to clearly demonstrate involvement in quality improvement activities.

 

Dandenong Casey General Practice Association (DCGPA) has developed this online database of Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles to support general practices working on quality improvement activities.  The PDSA database provides easy access to a range of ideas for quality improvement activities. All PDSAs listed have been developed and trialed by local general practices and the database is being regularly updated with new PDSAs. 

 

The Association understands that all practices are not the same and while one PDSA activity will lead to an improvement in one practice, it may not be as successful in another. The PDSAs on this website are provided as a guide to assist with ideas and to generate discussion in your practice.

 

How to use the PDSA database

 

- Identify the AREA that your practice is interested in working from the list on the right side of the screen (eg health summaries)

- Review the list of GOALS under that area to determine which goal/s is relevant to your needs (eg Increase the number of patients with their allergy status recorded)

- Look at the list of possible IDEAS listed under that goal and select one you are interested in

- Click on that PDSA and customise the PDSA Plan to meet the needs of your practice.  Save the PDSA to your own electronic file or print out a copy if preferred

- After the activity has been implemented fill in the Do, Study and Act sections to track the outcomes of the activity

- Or to develop your own PDSA use the blank template available under the Resources section of DCGPA website

 

Note: To ensure you are able to enter your information into the PDSA cycle and save an electronic version of it, you will need Adobe Reader Version 8 or later. This software is free, to upgrade your version please follow the link http://get.adobe.com/reader/

 

Resources referred to in the PDSAs are available via the Resources section of DCGPA website.  Some services referred to in the PDSAs may only be available to practices within DCGPA, for example the Practice Data Report.

 

For assistance with any of the above or to add your own PDSAs to the DCGPA website please contact Stephanie Edmonds or Mary Saunders via phone on 8792 1900 or email data@dcgpa.com.au