Going from General Aims to Specific Aims
TASK Your team must now refine the first of the original general aims. To do this, you’ll add an expectation of time to achieving the aim and define the inpatient subpopulation in question, following the principles in the previous section.
» Recall general aims from the Establish General Aims section.
Your Aim statement should follow the SMART criteria and be Specific, Measurable, Aggressive yet Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Two examples of converting a general aim to a more specific and time-limited aim
General aim 1 |
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Substantially improve heart failure care for hospitalized patients |
is converted to |
Ninety percent of patients discharged with heart failure as a principal diagnosis will be placed on a (HF specific) beta blocker within 6 months |
General aim 3 |
»
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Improve the heart failure core measures. |
is modified to |
By January of 2008, 95% of eligible patients discharged with a principal diagnosis of heart failure will be discharged on an ACEI or ARB or will have a contraindication documented. |
Progress toward core aims should be tracked, trended, and publicly reported in run charts, with frequent reiteration of the ultimate goals.
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