{"id":3611,"date":"2018-02-21T15:10:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T20:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/?page_id=3611"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:56:09","slug":"key-driver-diagram","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/key-driver-diagram\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver Diagram"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A driver diagram is a visual tool that maps the aim (goal) of a project, major factors (primary drivers) influencing the aim, and specific actions (change ideas or PDSAs) to drive improvement. It helps teams understand their system&#8217;s complexity, influencing factors, and the relationships between their change ideas and the desired outcome. A driver diagram includes your aim, which is a statement that declares what you intend to improve. Your aim should meet the SMART criteria (<strong>S<\/strong>pecific, <strong>M<\/strong>easurable, <strong>A<\/strong>ttainable\/Achievable, <strong>R<\/strong>elevant, and <strong>T<\/strong>imebound) and address the following: what will be improved, by how much, for whom, and by when.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Steps<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Define your aim using the SMART criteria.<\/li>\n<li>Identify primary drivers based on your aim; based on theory or your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/process-mapping\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">process map<\/a>, determine the key factors that directly influence the aim.<\/li>\n<li>Determine secondary drivers (optional): Identify the specific actions or processes that impact the primary drivers.<\/li>\n<li>Develop Change Ideas: based on theory or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/root-cause-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gap analysis<\/a>, generate actionable strategies to test and implement improvements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Resources<\/h2>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 97.564%;height: 118px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 98px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;text-align: center;height: 98px\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8060\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Read.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"137\" height=\"137\" \/><\/strong><strong>Read<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 98px\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/qi.elft.nhs.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/whats-your-theory-bennett-and-provost.pdf\">What\u2019s Your Theory<\/a> &#8212; This article from American Society for Quality (ASQ) presents a driver diagram that serves as a tool for building and testing theories.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2025\/04\/Ontario-Driver-Diagram-Instructions-Adapted.pdf\">Ontario Driver Diagram Instructions<\/a> &#8212; This article outlines why driver diagrams are important and the steps to complete one.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 23px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;height: 10px;text-align: center\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8065\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-2048x2048.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-600x600.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Use<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 10px\">\n<ul>\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2019\/06\/QIToolkit_DriverDiagram.pdf\">QI Toolkit Essential: Driver Diagram<\/a> <\/em>\u2013 This toolkit from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) provides an overview on driver diagrams and provides a template.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 33px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;height: 10px;text-align: center\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8062\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Watch-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"173\" height=\"173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Watch-2.png 173w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Watch-2-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 173px) 100vw, 173px\" \/>Watch<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 10px\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=A2491BJcyXA\">Driver Diagram Overview<\/a> \u2013 This video from IHI provides an overview on how to create a driver diagram (Video &#8211; 6:23).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yfcE_Q-IRFg\">How Do You Use a Driver Diagram?<\/a> \u2013 This video from IHI describes the relationship between driver diagram and PDSA and outlines the difference between primary and secondary drivers (Video &#8211; 6:38).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Related QI Concepts<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/data-collection-planning\/\">Data Collection Planning<\/a> \u2013 Identifying and tracking your measures will help you as you consider your major drivers for your project and whether you are moving towards achieving your aim.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/pdsas-and-counting-things\/\">Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)<\/a> \u2013 Also known as changes ideas, PDSAs are key feature on driver diagrams and essentially specific activities that your team is doing to improve your process. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/project-charter\/\">Project Charter<\/a> \u2013 Your project charter is a roadmap for your project and includes your goal and reason for your project. Your project goal is an essential component of your driver diagram.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/root-cause-analysis\/\">Identifying Gaps &amp; Root Causes<\/a> \u2013 An understanding of your gaps and root causes will help you identify major drivers within your project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A driver diagram is a visual tool that maps the aim (goal) of a project, major factors (primary drivers) influencing the aim, and specific actions (change ideas or PDSAs) to drive improvement. It helps teams understand their system&#8217;s complexity, influencing factors, and the relationships between their change ideas and the desired outcome. A driver diagram &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/key-driver-diagram\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Driver Diagram\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67691,"featured_media":0,"parent":210,"menu_order":17,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-3611","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Driver Diagram - Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/key-driver-diagram\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Driver Diagram - Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A driver diagram is a visual tool that maps the aim (goal) of a project, major factors (primary drivers) influencing the aim, and specific actions (change ideas or PDSAs) to drive improvement. 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