Description:
ABSTRACTBackgroundThe quality of health care can be improved through the monitoring, evaluation, reporting and feedback of current practice. Drug use evaluation methodology has been used for many years as a process for improving health care through the optimisation of prescribing practice. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement 'Breakthrough Series' has also been promoted widely as a useful tool for improving health care.AimThe aim of this paper is to familiarise readers with these methods, by analysing similarities and differences, and qualitatively evaluating their merits as quality improvement tools.DiscussionAlthough both methods involve similar activities (identifying desired practice, measuring current practice, developing and implementing changes, feeding back into the process) there are differences in the application of each model in the healthcare setting that should be considered when planning quality improvement activities. We hypothesise that synergy may be achieved by combining elements of both approaches.ConclusionFurther research is required to test if a combination of these methods results in effective and sustainable improvements in the quality of medicines use and measurable improvements in healthcare outcomes.