John Hollingsworth, MD Understanding Quality Improvement as Clinical Practice
Quality improvement at UF Health represents a fundamental shift from viewing QI as separate committee work to recognizing it as the discipline underlying excellent patient care. When clinicians flag near-misses, question ineffective workflows, or review outcome data, they are directly advancing institutional goals that extend from the bedside to the boardroom. This approach positions every care team member not as support staff for someone else’s agenda, but as the driving force behind quality initiatives.
The practical impact of this philosophy becomes clear when we examine how systematic process improvements address the very challenges that contribute to provider burnout. Rather than adding to workload, effective QI reshapes work into something more sustainable and effective. When a simple modification to a discharge process prevents repeated emergency department visits, it demonstrates how quality improvement creates value for both patients and providers—reducing frustration while improving outcomes through systematic thinking applied to everyday clinical scenarios.
Resources
These video resources provide perspectives from UF Health leadership on integrating quality improvement into clinical practice, featuring both strategic vision and practical examples of QI in action.
The Importance of QI at UF Health
Dr. John Hollingsworth, Chief Quality Officer for UF Health, explains how quality improvement functions as a daily discipline rather than a separate administrative function. He outlines UF Health’s strategic approach to reducing preventable harm and improving consistency across the system, while emphasizing that every clinician serves as an active participant in the quality agenda through routine decision-making and process observation.
Transcript: The Importance of QI at UF Health
Welcome to “The Importance of QI at UF Health”
The following content is presented by John Hollingsworth.
At UF Health quality improvement isn’t something that happens in a committee room somewhere. It’s happening every time one of our clinicians makes a decision at the bedside.
Our strategic goals are clear: reduce preventable harm, improve outcomes, and deliver care that’s consistent across our entire system. Those aren’t abstract targets. They’re commitments we’ve made to our patients and our community.
But here’s what I want all care team members to hear. You are not support staff for someone else’s QI agenda. You are the QI agenda.
When you flag a near miss, when you question a workflow that isn’t working, when you take ten minutes to review your outcomes data, your advancing goals, that go all the way to the top of this institution.
Quality is not a department. It’s a discipline, we practice together every day, across every unit in every campus. That’s what it means to be UF Health.
Making a Difference: QI as a Clinical Imperative
This resource demonstrates the practical application of quality improvement thinking through a real clinical scenario involving repeated emergency department visits. The example illustrates how asking “Why does this keep happening?” can lead to simple process modifications with significant impact, showing how QI work integrates with patient care rather than competing with it.
Transcript: Making a Difference: QI as a Clinical Imperative
Welcome to “Making a Difference: QI as a Clinical Imperative”
The following content is presented by John Hollingsworth.
A few years ago, our team repeatedly cared for the same patient in the emergency department. Each visit, driven by the same condition and the same preventable complication. The pattern was discouraging for the care team and exhausting for the patient.
We asked a straightforward question. Why does this keep happening? That question initiated a quality improvement project by modifying a single step in our discharge process, we saw a marked reduction in readmissions. The patient stopped coming to the emergency department.
This is the essence of quality improvement.
Many clinicians feel that they have no capacity for additional initiatives, and that sentiment is understandable. However, the processes that contribute most to burnout are often the ones most in need of redesign. Quality improvement does not add to the workload; over time, it reshapes the work into something more sustainable and effective.
There is a distinct satisfaction in seeing a process you helped refine lead to better outcomes. That is not extra work. It is central to our purpose.