RT Book, Section A1 Schnipper, Jeffrey L. A2 McKean, Sylvia C. A2 Ross, John J. A2 Dressler, Daniel D. A2 Scheurer, Danielle B. SR Print(0) ID 1137607526 T1 Research in the Hospital T2 Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine, 2e YR 2017 FD 2017 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071843133 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1137607526 RD 2025/02/15 AB Hospitalists are often asked to participate in or lead quality improvement (QI) and research initiatives, locally and nationally. Because data collection and feedback are part of any QI effort, and because the results of these efforts are often published, the hospitalists who lead these efforts often ask (or are asked by others) the question: “Is this research?” The short answer is that QI research is different from standard QI efforts in many respects. In this chapter, we will address the differences between standard QI efforts and research, some reasons to do QI research, the appropriate time to do QI research (for you and for the scientific question at hand), how “rigorously” to conduct QI research, getting started with the process, the ingredients for a successful project, and issues related to study design and methods that are either unique to or are particularly relevant to QI research.