Sustainability of Partnership Projects: A Conceptual Framework and Checklist
Abstract
Background There is growing recognition that the health care delivery system in the United States must make major changes. Intervention projects focusing on quality and patient safety offer the potential for reshaping the future of medicine. Sustainability of the Partnerships for Quality (PFQ) projects and other patient safety and quality improvement projects that provide evidence of effectiveness is essential if progress is to be made.Methods For the purposes of these projects, a conceptual framework and a checklist for sustainability were developed. The framework consists of two dimensions: (1) the goals--what is to be sustained--and (2) elements for sustainability--infrastructure, incentives, incremental opportunities for involvement, and integration. The checklist is designed to trigger planning for sustainability early in a project's design. Specific questions about each of the elements can cue planners and project leaders to build in the goals for sustainability and change processes.Results A pilot test showed that the framework and checklist are relevant and helpful across a variety of projects.Discussion and conclusion Two extended examples of planning and action for sustainability from the PFQ projects are described. It is too early to claim sustainability for these project. However, continued monitoring for at least three years with the checklist could result in valuable national data with which to design and implement future projects.
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A selection of approaches looked at whether the initiative benefits were perceived by staff and other stakeholders as valuable.
“A selection of approaches took a wider perspective and looked at whether the initiative benefits were perceived by staff and other stakeholders as valuable [8, 30, 42, 51, 61-63].”
From Navigating the sustainability landscape: a systematic review of sustainability approaches in healthcare (2018) · cites this paper as [42]
Many approaches highlighted the importance of the ability of an initiative to garner and maintain resources through stable sources.
“Many approaches highlighted the importance of the ability of an initiative to garner and maintain resources [15, 27, 36–41] through stable sources [19, 36, 39, 42–45].”
From Navigating the sustainability landscape: a systematic review of sustainability approaches in healthcare (2018) · cites this paper as [42]
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- Authors
- Edwards, J. C., Feldman, P. H., Sangl, J., Polakoff, D., Stern, G., & Casey, D.
- Affiliations
- Texas A&M Health Science Center (US)
- VNS Health (US)
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US)
- Corresponding author
- Edwards, Janine C.
- Venue
- The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-12
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 37-47
- ISSN
- 1553-7250 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2414614861
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Quality and Management
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Patient Safety and Medication Errors
- Keywords
- partnership sustainability, patient safety, quality improvement, health care delivery reform, conceptual framework, sustainability checklist, organizational change, incentives, integration, infrastructure, project planning
- MeSH terms
- Community Participation, Cooperative Behavior, Delivery of Health Care, Health Services Research, Heart Failure, Humans, Interinstitutional Relations, Long-Term Care, Motivation, Organizational Innovation, Pilot Projects, Quality Assurance, Health Care, United States, Program Evaluation, United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Safety Management, Evidence-Based Medicine, Organizational Case Studies
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