Plan Do Study Act (PDSA)

Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) is a structured, iterative method for testing changes to see if they lead to improvement. PDSAs are often considered the engines that drive QI projects because they encourage teams to learn from their change ideas and how to best proceed. Initial PDSA cycles typically start small (i.e. involving one or two patients) with subsequent cycles potentially changing or expanding in scope if the team sees positive results.

Key Steps

• Plan: Identify a specific change to test your change ideas on the driver diagram and how you will collect this information. Make a prediction on what will happen.
• Do: Carry out the test on a small scale (i.e. one patient, one provider, or one shift, etc.) and document what happens
• Study: Review the data, compare results to your prediction, and reflect on what you learned.
• Act: Decide whether to adopt the change, adapt it for another test, or abandon it based on your findings.

Resources to Get Started

Read	PDSA Tracker (example by IHQI Project Manager) A primer on PDSA: executing plan-do-study-act cycles in practice, not just in name: Published by BMJ
Use	IHI PDSA Tracker (adapted by IHQI)

Related QI Concepts

• Driver Diagram – When considering change ideas, it is crucial to ensure that they are connected to the major drivers or influences of your project. An effective driver diagram includes changes ideas.
• Process Mapping – A process map would be a great place to look when considering potential change ideas to test because it ties to the key steps in each process.
• Project Planning – Potential PDSAs could be considering in the project planning process and help the team plan tests of change ideas.
• Visual Management – It may be beneficial to maintain PDSAs on a visual management so that the team is able to see the progress of tests of change ideas which could inform future decisions.