Spotlight On:
Revamped Enhancing Quality Improvement for Patients (EQuIP) Program Unveiled
The Enhancing Quality Improvement for Patients (EQuIP) office recently announced some changes to EQuIP that will make it significantly easier for residents to participate in the elective rotation.
EQuIP is a school-wide initiative designed to engage residents and fellows in systems-based quality improvement programs. In cooperation with faculty supervisors and mentors, the EQuIP program empowers LSU School of Medicine House Officers to contribute to scholarly activity and the implementation of clinical quality improvement initiatives at our affiliated training institutions, with the goal of improving outcomes for patients and inculcating a culture of quality improvement and patient safety. The EQuIP rotation provides an in-depth orientation to the principles of quality improvement, patient safety, and process improvement for residents and fellows. The EQuIP rotation is now a self-directed elective, managed by the residency program with resources and support from the EQuIP office.
In previous years, this rotation was more structured and directly managed by the EQuIP team within the GME office and included about eight hours of in-person didactic sessions. However, this approach made it difficult for many residency programs to participate in the rotation due to scheduling constraints related to busy clinical rotations. Under the old structure, only six programs were able to regularly participate in the elective.
In September 2025, the EQuIP curriculum was revamped; it is now a self-directed elective with full oversight and leadership by the programs. The EQuIP office remains a support system for the programs, by providing a suggested syllabus, online educational modules, project coaching, and offering a library of QI/PS lectures that can be presented by an EQuIP committee member at a program's regularly scheduled educational conference. These changes provide the programs with much more flexibility in the management and scheduling of the rotation.
“Given that ACGME requires quality improvement and patient safety education and experiential learning, we hope these changes will allow more programs to take advantage of EQuIP’s self-directed rotation for residents,” said Dr. Shannon Palombo, the EQuIP Rotation Director and Chair of the EQuIP Steering Committee.
The most important deliverable for an EQuIP rotation is the submission of a quality improvement project proposal. The EQuIP committee reviews and approves all QI project proposals (whether submitted by a resident, fellow, or faculty member) prior to the project starting. In additional efforts to improve the rotation, this process now utilizes a user-friendly online form that has greatly expedited the review and approval of projects, allowing more trainees and faculty to participate in improvement projects. Lastly, the EQuIP rotation now includes one-on-one project coaching with a member of the EQuIP Committee to receive feedback on project design, methodology, measures, and more.
Every spring, the EQuIP committee hosts an annual Quality Improvement and Patient Safety forum that features a keynote speaker with professional expertise in some aspect of quality improvement and a large number of impactful QI/PS projects from across LSUHSC. The 14th Annual Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Forum will be held on Friday, May 29 from 12-5 p.m. on the 1st floor of the Lions Eye Center. Elizabeth Drye, MD, SM, the Chief Scientific Officer at the National Quality Forum, will be the keynote speaker. She will present the key initiatives of the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission. The abstract submission portal is now open and anyone across LSUHSC can submit their QI/PS project for review. In April, the committee will review and select abstracts for oral and poster presentations at the forum.
“This is a great opportunity for our trainees to gain experience presenting their scholarly activity. The committee will score the presentations, and winners will be selected for best oral presentation and best poster presentations,” said Dr. Palombo.
Winners receive funds from the SOM Dean's office to offset travel expenses to present their accepted projects at national and regional conferences.
More information about the EQuIP Rotation can be found here.
More information about the QI Forum can be found here.