QUERI Implementation Guide: 2. Diagnosing a Gap and Designing an Intervention

Clinical research suggests how to effectively improve health and quality of life. Initial steps in translating research findings into improved clinical practice are to diagnose the gap or problem and design an intervention. Diagnosis results in the identification of actionable factors contributing to performance gaps and actionable reasons for failures in implementing innovations. Intervention design is the process of choosing a specific focus (e.g., patients, clinicians, information systems) for initiating change.