You are currently on this Topic of Chapter Two:
• Introduction	• Get Organized Checklist	• Review Development Work	• Identify Essential Elements	• Plan Evaluation	• Summary

Plan Evaluation

By this point, you have determined what your practice change or Standard implementation project is going to look like. You understand the importance of reviewing the development work, and giving thought to the essential elements. You will have also begun to identify and work with your stakeholders. Perhaps you have started an environmental scan to identify key issues, and have thought about possible implementation strategies to use in your project.

Before going ahead with implementation, have a look at developing an evaluation plan in case you need to collect baseline data.

 

Plan Evaluation Checklist Keep it simple: Identify expert resources (e.g., quality improvement/risk management staff, CNS, epidemiologist, university faculty) to help with the process. Include in your plan: goal(s) you want to achieve, target group, structure, process and outcome objectives and indicators, and resources required. Review checklist of issues that you may need to consider. Consider issues related to data collection. Use existing data and tools if possible. Develop a realistic timeline. Prepare a budget. Find out who needs to approve your plan. What other resources could you use to develop an evaluation plan?

 

We realize that planning and conducting an evaluation of your implementation may seem difficult. That's why we've included some of these frequently asked questions about evaluation.

QUESTION

Where do I start in the process?

ANSWER

Outline the original goals and expected results of the implementation project. Consider Conducting a Program Evaluation - Since the implementation of a practice change or Standard will involve changes in practice, most units will want to evaluate the impact of change on their program or way of delivering care. Sometimes the process of evaluation of care is called quality assurance (QA), quality improvement (QI) or continuous quality improvement (CQI). Seek assistance within VIHA from library's services, existing departments, committees, or individuals with experience in program evaluation.   Measure Structure and Process - Structural factors (e.g. equipment) and process factors (e.g. knowledge, skills and ways of providing care) are important pieces of the evaluation plan. Measuring Outcomes - Outcomes, or patient targets look at measurable changes in a patient's condition as a result of treatment or other medical intervention (e.g. body weight) and are often easy to identify. Select a small number (2-4) of important outcomes that relate to the unit, the health care provider, the patient and costs. Look for existing data about the outcomes. There are two advantages to this method. First, this gives you an easy comparison for pre- and post- implementation changes. Secondly, the criteria for how the data is selected has been figured out and tested. Outcome and process measures can also be defined using objective benchmarks, e.g. national norms or if norms do not exist, by comparing current with historical benchmark.

 

QUESTION

What's too much of a good thing?

ANSWER

Carefully consider how much evaluation should be undertaken, for what purpose and how much it will cost. If possible, use existing data and tools. Some practice changes will be able to be tracked using key indicators over time, but other changes will require more effort to be able to track outcomes - and that may prove difficult depending on what resources can be dedicated to evaluation. Theoretically, we should evaluate the outcomes of all we do but pragmatically we may only be able to take a reading on the level of practice change and trust that the evidence and research we base our changes on are sound.   Consider options for evaluation strategies and if necessary, do more research to determine how you will proceed. Then, develop your evaluation plan.

 

Designing an evaluation plan will give you an opportunity to assess your project's effectiveness. Aim for a simple, streamlined approach that will give you some practical results. Use the information in this chapter to guide your design work and ask yourself these questions...

• Do I have all the information I need to put my evaluation plan together?
  
  
• Is my design realistic and cost-effective?
  
  
• How can the evaluation be conducted in a way that will be useful?
  
  
• Will the evaluation work for this implementation project and the specific setting?

You will now have an idea of the process involved in designing an evaluation plan and some of the issues to consider. We have tried to provide a few tips here but there are many other resources available to help you design a results-oriented, useable evaluation. Evaluation can be done at any stage of the development or implementation of a practice change or Standard.

Evaluation is the last item on this chapter's checklist.

Get Organized Checklist Review development work Identify essential elements - people & tools Plan evaluation

The "next page" tab will summarize this chapter.