What the study found
The review found five key themes associated with building quality improvement (QI, organized efforts to improve health care quality) capacity in hospitals: accountability and priority setting, strategic management, collaboration, enhancing QI knowledge and experience, and QI project support. The authors present these themes as interconnected rather than separate factors.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that recognizing how these themes fit together is vital for sustained improvements in health care outcomes. They also suggest that future research should examine the role of organizational culture in optimizing QI initiatives.
What the researchers tested
The researchers conducted a systematic scoping review of the literature on factors influencing QI capacity development in hospitals. They searched CINAHL, Embase, Medline, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library, appraised study quality with the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool, and used NVivo software for coding and thematic analysis.
What worked and what didn't
Across 21 studies, the review identified accountability and priority setting, strategic management, collaboration, knowledge and experience, and project support as the main factors linked to QI capacity. The abstract does not report any interventions that failed, but it does describe the need for adequate resources and backing as part of project support.
What to keep in mind
The summary is based on 21 studies, so the findings reflect the available literature included in the review. The abstract does not describe specific limitations of the included studies beyond noting that future research should explore organizational culture.
Key points
- The review identified five themes linked to hospital QI capacity.
- The themes were accountability and priority setting, strategic management, collaboration, knowledge and experience, and project support.
- The authors describe these themes as interconnected.
- The review included 21 studies and used thematic analysis of extracted data.
- The abstract calls for more research on organizational culture.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Hospital quality improvement capacity depends on five linked themes
- Authors:
- Camilla Frosch Holmager Sloth, Louise Schlosser Mose, Pia Andersen, Torben Knudsen, Charlotte Overgaard
- Institutions:
- Hospital South West Jutland, Hospital South West Jutland, Hospital South West Jutland, Region of Southern Denmark, Region of Southern Denmark, Region of Southern Denmark, Region of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, University of Southern Denmark
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-26
- OpenAlex record:
- View
Get the weekly research newsletter
Stay current with scholarly research without reading academic papers — one filtered digest, every Friday.