BACKGROUND The design and execution of measurement in quality improvement (QI) initiatives is often poor. Better guidance on "what good looks like" might help to mitigate some of the problems. We report a consensus-building process that sought to identify which features are important to include in QI measurement plans. METHODS We conducted a three-stage consensus-building approach: (1) identifying the list of features of measurement plans that were potential candidates for inclusion based on literature review and the study team's experience; (2) a two-round modified Delphi exercise with a panel of experts to establish consensus on the importance of these features; and (3) a small in-person consensus group meeting to finalise the list of features. RESULTS A list of 104 candidate questions was generated. A panel of 19 experts in the Delphi reviewed these questions and produced consensus on retaining 46 questions in the first round and on a further 22 in the second round. Thematic analysis of open text responses from the panellists suggested a number of areas of debate that were explicitly considered by the consensus group. The exercise yielded 74 questions (71% of 104) on which there was consensus in five categories of measurement relating to: design, data collection and management, analysis, action, and embedding. CONCLUSIONS This study offers a consensus-based view on the features of a good measurement plan for a QI project in healthcare. The results may be of use to QI teams, funders and evaluators, but are likely to require further development and testing to ensure feasibility and usefulness.

中文翻译：

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修改后的Delphi研究确定了医疗保健改善项目的高质量测量计划的特征。

背景技术质量改进（QI）计划中的测量的设计和执行通常很差。更好地指导“看起来什么样”可能有助于减轻某些问题。我们报告了建立共识的过程，该过程旨在确定哪些特征在QI测量计划中应包括在内。方法我们采用了三个阶段的共识建立方法：（1）根据文献综述和研究团队的经验，确定可被纳入的测量计划的特征清单；（2）由专家小组进行的两轮改进德尔菲演习，以就这些功能的重要性达成共识；（3）举行一次小型的现场共识小组会议，以最终确定功能清单。结果产生了104个候选问题的列表。由德尔菲（Delphi）的19位专家组成的小组审查了这些问题，并就在第一轮保留46个问题，在第二轮又保留22个问题达成了共识。小组成员对公开文本答复的主题分析提出了共识小组明确考虑的许多辩论领域。练习产生了74个问题（占104个问题中的71％），在与设计，数据收集和管理，分析，行动和嵌入相关的五类测量中，就这些问题达成了共识。结论这项研究为医疗保健QI项目的良好测量计划的特征提供了基于共识的观点。结果可能对QI小组，资助者和评估者有用，但是可能需要进一步的开发和测试以确保可行性和实用性。