A patient transport pilot quality improvement team.

The transportation of inpatients within the hospital is a critical component of the patient care process. A quality improvement (QI) team at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston) convened to improve this process and to pilot the QI approach there. Pilot QI projects have the burden of intense scrutiny by senior management at a point when the fundamentals needed for a successful QI project are scarce or not yet available. The authors, who were participants in this project, describe the methodology and outcomes of this pilot QI process as well as the lessons learned. The results confirm that, although difficult, it is possible to succeed in pilot projects and gain the support needed to move on to the next step in the QI journey.