Sixty-three percent of state health officials (SHOs;
n = 32) have an MD degree. Having a medical degree
held by the SHO was unrelated to the practice of QI.
Seventy-five percent (n = 24) of the 32 SHOs with an
MD degree had a QI process in place and 75% (n = 15)
of the 20 SHOs without an MD degree reported a QI
process in place. Eighty-four percent (n = 27) of the 32
SHOs with an MD had 1 or more formal QI projects
implemented in the past year compared with 80% of
SHOs without an MD. Fifty-six percent (n = 18) of the
32 SHOs with an MD degree had staff with dedicated
time in their job description to monitor performance
and QI and 55% (n = 11) of the SHOs without an MD
degree had such staff. Finally, 52% (n = 16) of the SHOs
with an MD degree used a PDCA or PDSA cycle in
the past year, compared to the 50% (n = 10) of the
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20 SHOs without anMDthat utilized a PDCA or PDSA
cycle in the past year.