Table 7.

Essential collaborative features that determine short-term outcomes.

Essential feature	CRC screening quality improvement collaborative
There is a specified topic	The topic was CRC screening
Clinical and quality improvement experts provide ideas and support for improvement	The ACS and the NCCHCA provided cancer screening and quality improvement expertise
Critical mass of teams from multiple sites willing to improve, share and participate	27 individuals from nine FQHCs participated; an average of eight FQHCs had representation at all 13 QI Collaborative meetings
Teams use a model for improvement	The curriculum was based on the IHI Model for Improvement (The Breakthrough Series: Mi’s Collaborative Model for Achieving Breakthrough Improvement Boston, MA, 2003)
Collaborative process involves a series of structured activities	Activities included creating a team, attending in-person and virtual meetings, completing QI tools, implementing screening interventions, and collecting and reporting data