Are you struggling to get a quality improvement project off the ground?

As healthcare professionals, we don't formally get taught the business and quality improvement skills needed to successfully plan & launch a quality improvement project.

What if you had these?

  • Business Skills

    Making the business case for change. Applying marketing & sales principles to improve project buy-in.

  • Quality Improvement Skills

    Designing & executing a root cause analyses. Rationally discovering, prioritizing, and selecting solutions. Preparing for sustainability.

Let us help you on your journey

At CQUINS, we are obsessed with making, supporting, and promoting excellent quality improvement practitioners. The Quality in Healthcare Consultancy is an innovative partnership between the Schulich School of Medicine and the Ivey School of Business. In our program, you will receive the best teaching that each has to offer.

Why is this our most innovative program?

  • Interdisciplinary

    Speakers from both the business and medical sectors provide teaching grounded in real life experience. Participants from both sectors learn in interdisciplinary groups.

  • World-Class Speakers

    The speaker lineup from each discipline includes world-class experts who are internationally renowned and published for their works.

  • Structured

    A step-by-step project scaffold provides participants with guidance through each step of the QI project process.

Course Format

The course centers around a longitudinal quality improvement project of your choosing. Content is then delivered throughout the year from September to May, with participants applying concepts directly to their project.

  • Six online modules, each consisting of online videos plus 1-2 live webinars

  • A guided project charter to provide structure through the QI project process

  • Each project group consists of regulated health professionals/administrators+ 3-4 Ivey business students

Course Syllabus

  • 1

    Module 1a: Introduction to Quality Improvement Coursework: Sept 15-Sept 22 IN PERSON UH B3-250: Sept 23

    • Course Overview

    • Course Webinars

    • Course Syllabus

    • Independent Research Project Option

    • The Problem With Quality Improvement

    • Adaptive vs. Technical Challenges

    • Curriculum Overview

    • The Project Charter

    • Independent Learning Module: Introduction to Quality Improvement

    • Introduction to the Model for Improvement

    • Introduction to the Driver Diagram

    • Choosing a QI Project

    • Project Selection Framework

    • September 23, 2025 IN PERSON UH B3-250 Auditorium B 6-8pm: Introductory to QI in Healthcare

    • Project Selection Assignment: Due September 30, 2025

    • Module 1A Feedback & Evaluation

  • 2

    Module 1b: Project Selection and Problem Definition Coursework: Sept 30 - Oct 6 Webinar: Oct 7

    • Defining a QI Problem

    • QI Project vs. Conventional Research Project

    • Starting With the End in Mind

    • Planning a Baseline Data Collection

    • Constructing an AIM Statement

    • Ethics and QI

    • Stakeholder Engagement & AIM Statement Assignments: Due October 14, 2025

    • Module 1B Feedback & Evaluation

  • 3

    Module 2a: Root Cause Analysis - Part 1 - Coursework: Oct 14-20 Webinar: Oct 21

    • Stakeholder Engagement

    • Stakeholder Interviews

    • Cause and Effect Diagram

    • Five Whys

    • Process Map

    • Cause & Effect Diagram & Driver Diagram Assignments: Due October 28, 2025

    • Module 2A Feedback & Evaluation

  • 4

    Module 2b: Root Cause Analysis - Part 2 - Coursework: Nov 3 - Nov 10 Webinar: Nov 11

    • Direct Observation

    • Literature Review

    • Pareto Chart

    • Constructing A Pareto Chart in QI Macros

    • Process Map & Driver Diagram Assignments: Due November 18, 2025

    • Module 2B Feedback & Evaluation

  • 5

    Module 3: Solution Generation, Prioritization, and Selection - Coursework: Nov 17 - 24 Webinar: Nov 25

    • The Solutions Process, Mapping Solutions Onto Root Causes

    • Change Concepts vs. Change Ideas

    • Tool: Creative Combination

    • Tool: Human Factors Analysis

    • Tool: Direct Observation

    • Tool: PICK Chart

    • Hierarchy of Effectiveness

    • The Golden Rules of Implementation

    • PICK Chart & Driver Diagram Assignments: Due December 2, 2025

    • Module 3 Feedback & Evaluation
  • 6

    Module 4a: Improvement Science - Part 1 - Coursework: Dec 1 - Dec 8 Webinar: Dec 9

    • Context

    • Family of Measures

    • Model for Improvement Overview

    • Lean/Toyota Production System Overview

    • Boardroom Pitch PPT Template

    • Family of Measures & Driver Diagram Assignments: Due December 16, 2025

    • Module 4A Feedback & Evaluation

  • 7

    Module 4b: Improvement Science Part 2 - Coursework: Jan 6 - 12 Webinar: Jan 13

    • Plan

    • Do

    • Study

    • Act

    • PDSA #1 Assignment: Due January 20, 2026

    • Module 4B Feedback & Evaluation
  • 8

    Module 5a: Measurement for Improvement Part 1 Coursework: Jan 20 - Jan 26 Webinar: Jan 27

    • Pitfalls of Applying Conventional Statistics to QI

    • Run Charts

    • A Tale of Three Clinics

    • PDSA #1 Update Assignment: Due February 3, 2026

    • Module 5A Feedback & Evaluation
  • 9

    Module 5b: Measurement for Improvement Part 2 Coursework: Feb 3 - 9 Webinar: Feb 10

    • Statistical Process Control Charts

    • Why Change Occurred

    • Why Change Did Not Occur

    • Run Chart Assignment: Due February 15, 2026

    • Module 5B Feedback & Evaluation
  • 10

    Module 6a: Sustainability and Spread - Part 1 -- Coursework: Feb 17 - Feb 23 Webinar: Feb 24

    • Causes of Regression

    • Documentation Plan

    • Education and Training Plan

    • PDSA #2 Assignment: Due March 3, 2026

    • Module 6A Feedback & Evaluation
  • 11

    Module 6b: Sustainability and Spread - Part 2 -- Coursework: Mar 10 - 16 Webinar: Mar 17

    • Monitoring Plan

    • Response Plan

    • Closeout Report

    • QI Project Poster Assignment: Due March 24, 2026

    • QI Project Poster Example

    • Module 6B Feedback & Evaluation

  • 12

    Module 6c: Final Project Capstone Presentations Coursework: Mar 24 - Mar 30 Webinar: Mar 31

    • Capstone Presentation PPT Template

    • March 31, 2026 Webinar (6-8pm): Capstone Presentations - Judges Panel

    • Capstone Presentation Evaluation Rubric

    • Final Course Evaluation

Time Commitment & Key Dates

Live sessions are  from 6pm to 8pm every other Tuesday on the dates listed above.  In addition are the following key dates:

December 9, 2025: Mock Boardroom Pitch Presentations

March 31, 2026: Capstone Project Presentations 

Instructor(s)

Course Director

Andrea McInerney

Andrea is a skilled senior leader with more than 15 years of dedicated leadership experience in primary, community and acute care, as well as at the health government and policy level. Analytical by nature, Andrea thrives in utilizing systems thinking to achieve high-quality outcomes. As a results-driven visionary, she specializes in driving positive change for staff, patients and families. Andrea leads LHSC’s Office of Capital Management where as a member of LHSC’s Executive Leadership Collaborative, and is responsible for creating and implementing an integrated plan for LHSC’s infrastructure – one that positions the organization for system transformation. Andrea began her career at the London Health Sciences Centre in 2004 and returned in 2018. She has created tangible impacts across the system with achievements that include: • Managing the Acute Care Portfolio for the former South West LHIN, where amongst other initiatives she led the design and implementation of the South West Musculoskeletal (MSK) strategy to standardize quality of care, including wait times and assessment models, for all patients requiring spine surgery or joint replacement in Southwestern Ontario; • Leading the LHSC Cardiac Care program’s early pandemic response and co-leading the development of a comprehensive local Heart Failure Strategy that was recently funded for adoption by the Middlesex London Ontario Health Team; and • Supporting the delivery of several LHSC corporate initiatives, including the redesign of the Enterprise Risk Management and Policy and Procedure Frameworks, as well as the development of LHSC’s Master Plan. Committed to ongoing professional development, Andrea holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences from Western University; a Master of Science in quality improvement and patient safety from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME); and her black belt in Lean Six Sigma (LSSBB) and is a Certified Health Executive (CHE) from the Canadian College of Health Leaders. Passionate about supporting the development of future health care leaders, Andrea serves as the co-director for the Schulich Ivey Healthcare Consultancy program within the Centre for Quality, Innovation and Safety (CQuINS).

Course Director

Elaine Tang

Elaine Tang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery with cross appointment to the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Western University. She completed medical school and General Surgery residency at Western University, followed by a Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Western University and a Minimally Invasive Surgery fellowship at McGill university. She was awarded a MSc in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety from the University of Toronto. Clinically, Elaine has an interest in minimally invasive abdominal wall reconstructions and complex hernia repairs. Her academic interests include end-of-life care and prehabilitation in surgery.