WHAT IS QUERI?

In 1998, Veteran's Administration’s Health Services Research and Development Service launched the VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI). The QUERI mission is to enhance the quality and outcomes of VA health care by systematically implementing clinical research findings and evidence-based recommendations into routine clinical practice. VA’s QUERI is designed to translate research discoveries and innovations into better patient care and systems improvements. In evaluating quality of care, the QUERI process focuses on three elements:

• structure (provider and organizational characteristics),
• process (providers’ clinical actions toward patients), and
• outcome (health status, economic impact, satisfaction).

QUERI is founded on the principle that practice needs determine the research agenda, and research results determine interventions that improve the quality of patient care.

Specific Aims for QUERI

Crosscutting issues that pertain to all of the conditions QUERI focuses on are included in its specific aims.

Integrate research, clinical, operational, and policy expertise to improve health care policy.

• Target high priority disease or health delivery issues.
• Evaluate interventions and provide feedback to encourage best practices.
• Develop risk-adjusted quality improvement activities for comparison with public/private health care systems.
• Identify gaps in knowledge and create new data to inform policy decisions.

The collaborative structure and systematic approach inherent in the QUERI process encourage continuous quality improvements in all areas of health care.

Areas of Focus for QUERI

QUERI focuses on ten high-risk and/or highly prevalent diseases or conditions among veterans: Chronic Heart Failure, Colorectal Cancer, Diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Ischemic Heart Disease, Mental Health, Poly Trauma/Blast Related Injuries, Spinal Cord Injury, Stroke, and Substance Use Disorders.