Quality improvement teams should begin their improvement efforts by creating an AIM statement that defines the problem and the goals. PHF’s Senior Quality Advisor Jack Moran and Maine Department of Health and Human Service’s Performance Improvement Manager Brynn Riley wrote an article detailing the steps to writing an effective AIM statement titled, Make AIM Statements More Robust by Describing and Accounting for Tangible and Intangible Benefits, published in the Process Excellence Network. The article includes an example of a detailed AIM Statement which has the following sections:

1. Problem description and boundaries, team composition
2. Internal and external benefits and cost description
3. Current state performance and desired future state
4. Improvement description
5. Internal and external customer identification