This paper demonstrates that the staff of a community hospital can learn a system of quality improvement (QI) and subsequently apply it to new challenges within the organization. Team members from Meadville Medical Center (MMC), a rural hospital in Northwestern Pennsylvania, participated in the Accelerating Best Care in Pennsylvania project to learn rapid-cycle QI methodology. The team applied this method to 2 areas that were identified as opportunities for improvement. The projects included increasing compliance with deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis in a hospital unit, and the administration of pneumococcal vaccinations on another unit. Compliance was 100% by the end of the initial measurement period. Improvements made to protocols and processes during the course of the projects have been extended successfully throughout the hospital. In response to the positive feedback and results, MMC created a similar system for teaching and implementing rapid-cycle QI and has applied it to additional projects with success. (Am J Med Qual 2008;23:266-270)
