Editorial: Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)—Advancing Understanding of Design, Application, Impact, and Evaluation of CQI Approaches

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) approaches are increasingly used to bridge gaps between the evidence base for best practice, what actually happens in practice, and achievement of better population health outcomes. Among a range of quality improvement strategies, CQI is characterized by iterative use of processes to identify quality problems, develop solutions, and implement and evaluate changes. Application of CQI in health care is evolving and evidence of their success continues to emerge (1–3). Through the Research Topic, “Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)—Advancing Understanding of Design, Application, Impact, and Evaluation of CQI approaches,” we aimed to aggregate knowledge of useful approaches to tailoring CQI approaches for different contexts, and for implementation, scale-up and evaluation of CQI interventions/programs. This Research Topic has attracted seven original research reports and three “perspectives” papers. Thirty-six authors have contributed from eighteen research organizations, universities, and policy and service delivery organizations. All original research articles and one perspective paper come from the Australian Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease (ABCD) National Research Partnership (“ABCD Partnership”) in Indigenous primary healthcare settings (4–6). To some extent, this reflects the interests and connections of two of the Topic Editors, who were lead investigators on the ABCD Partnership. This Partnership has made a prominent contribution to original research on CQI in primary healthcare internationally, with over 50 papers published in the peer-reviewed literature over the past 10 years. As most articles in this Research Topic arise from the ABCD Partnership, a brief overview of the program provides a useful backdrop. The program originated in 2002 in the Top End of the Northern Territory in Australia, and built on substantial prior research and evaluation of CQI methods in Indigenous primary healthcare. With substantial growth and enthusiastic support from service providers and researchers around Australia, the ABCD Partnership has focused since 2010