Contextual factors included in the Model for Understanding Success in Quality (MUSIQ)
| Contextual factor | Initial definition source | Final definition |
| External environment | ||
| External motivators | Environmental pressures and incentives that stimulate the organisation to improve its performance and quality in the area of focus of this QI project | |
| Project sponsorship | Substantial and meaningful contributions of personnel, expertise, money, equipment, facilities, or other important resources from outside entities (external to the organisation) with formal relationships with this QI project | |
| Organisation | ||
| QI leadership | 19 20 | Senior management's (CEO, COO, CMO, Senior VP, Board of Directors) governance—guidance, support, oversight, and direction setting—of improvement efforts |
| Senior leader project sponsor | Senior leader commitment to champion and support this QI project | |
| Culture supportive of QI | 21 | Values, beliefs, and norms of an organisation that shape the behaviours of staff in pursuing QI |
| Maturity of organisational QI | Sophistication of the organisation's QI programme | |
| Physician payment structure | Physicians are employed and compensated by the organisation | |
| QI support and capacity | ||
| Data infrastructure | 19 | Extent to which a system exists to collect, manage, and facilitate the use of data needed to support performance improvement |
| Resource availability | 19 | Degree to which financial support for QI, including allocation of resources and staff time, is provided |
| Workforce focus on QI | 19 22 | Degree to which the organisation develops the workforce through training and engages them in QI through reward systems and expectation setting |
| Microsystem | ||
| QI leadership | 19 | Microsystem leadership capacity for improvement and degree to which they are personally involved in supporting and facilitating improvement efforts |
| Culture supportive of QI | 21 | Values, beliefs, and norms present in the microsystem that emphasise teamwork, communication, freedom to make decisions, and commitment to improve |
| Capability for improvement | Microsystem staff's ability to use QI methods for change | |
| Motivation to change | 23 | Extent to which microsystem staff members have a desire and willingness to improve performance in this area of focus |
| QI team | ||
| Team diversity | Diversity of team members with respect to professional discipline, personality, motivation, and perspective | |
| Physician involvement | 24 | Contribution of physicians to the QI team efforts |
| Subject matter expert | One or more team members is knowledgeable about the outcome, process, or system being changed | |
| Team tenure | 25 | Team members have worked together as a team before |
| Prior QI experience | 25 | Prior experience with QI |
| Team leadership | 25 26 | Team leader's ability to accomplish the goals of the improvement project through guiding the actions of the QI team |
| Team decision-making process | 27 | Team engages in well designed decision-making practices |
| Team norms | 26 27 | Team establishes strong norms of behaviour related to how work is to be carried out and how goals are to be achieved |
| Team QI skill | 28 | Team's ability to use improvement methods to make changes |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Trigger | 29 | Presence of a specific event (positive or negative) that stimulates a new emphasis on improving quality in the area of focus of a given QI project |
| Task strategic importance to the organisation | 25 | Work perceived as part of the organisation's strategic goals |
CEO, chief executive officer; CMO, chief marketing officer; COO, chief operating officer; QI, quality improvement; VP, vice president.