"Sharing approaches...improving lives"

Submission Guidelines for Progress Notes:

The mission of Progress Notes is to provide a forum for information and resource exchange to improve the care of people with chronic health conditions. That mission will be accomplished through two goals:

• Disseminate information about state-of-the art techniques and provide practical tips on improving the outcomes and processes of care for the management of chronic health conditions.
• Show how the quality improvement process is an effective methodology to achieve real improvements in outcomes and processes of care.

Introduction: We strive to have each edition of Progress Notes provide useful clinical information and educate practitioners on the concepts, tools and methods of continuous improvement. We believe that integrating knowledge of health topics with the methodology of quality improvement, provides a powerful framework for achieving measurable results.

Readership: Our readers are health care professionals and administrators primarily in Massachusetts, though we anticipate the need for a broader regional focus. Our readers look to Progress Notes for answers to these questions:

A. What are practitioners doing to improve outcomes and care processes?

B. What data do they have that shows effectiveness?

C. What materials, e.g., guidelines, protocols, etc., have they developed that might be useful to me?

D. What quality improvement concepts, tools and methods did they use to achieve what they set out to do?

E. How can I take what the authors have done and apply it in my own setting?

F. What resources exist within communities, organizations, and individuals that will provide knowledge, skill and materials?

Writing Guidelines:  Where applicable, please use these guidelines to describe your quality improvement project.

A. Clearly state the objective of the work to be reported. Describe briefly any pertinent background information explaining why and how the work was initiated.

B. Describe the team and training of people who participated in the improvement effort.

C. Describe the desired outcomes, including a target population and goal, e.g., a 20% reduction in one year in pediatric asthma related emergency room visits.

D. Describe one or more process improvements related to the desired outcome.

E. Show data in a graphic format, e.g., run chart, histogram, etc.

F. Show how a quality improvement tool was used, e.g., process flow diagram, fish-bone diagram.

G. Show examples of materials developed and used, e.g., guideline or protocol.

H. List specific ideas to try with tips for implementation in various settings.

I. Outline key points and lessons learned with concrete examples.

Submission Requirements:  We would appreciate receiving your article by e-mail. Please e-mail to MCDIN as an attached file, in either Word or Word Perfect. We have found that the .txt extension works best for Word Perfect and .doc for Word. You can also cut and paste it directly into your e-mail.

If you do not have access to e-mail, mail clean copy to: 
Progress Notes, Berkshire AHEC, 60 Charles Street, Pittsfield, MA  01201

Or, lastly, fax article to Berkshire AHEC at 413-499-0370.  This is our least favorite choice because the fax quality makes it difficult to scan. We don't want to retype your article.

All submitted articles are subject to review by our Editorial Review Board.

Guidelines approved April 7, 1999, M. L. Knapp, MCDIN Editorial Review Board. 
Revised September 28, 1999 by J. Ezinga, MCDIN Project Team.

Page Updated 8/28/2000 (S)

Massachusetts Chronic Disease Improvement Network

[Home] [About] [Search] [Contact] [Disclaimer]

[Progress Notes] [Events] [Rolodex] [Models for Care] [Tools & Resources] 

Diseases: [Asthma] [Diabetes] 

© 2000, Massachusetts Chronic Disease Improvement Network, Inc., all rights reserved
Web site design by SNP Technologies, Inc.