In the PDSA cycle, which phase comes after Do?

• A. Plan
• B. Study
• C. Act
• D. Define

Answer: (B)

After implementing the plan in a real setting, you analyze what happened to understand the effect. In the PDSA cycle, the sequence is Plan, Do, Study, Act, so the phase after Do is Study. This step involves collecting and reviewing data to see how the change performed compared to expectations, identifying improvements, variations, or unintended consequences. The insights from Study then guide Act, where you decide whether to adopt, modify, or discard the change and plan the next cycle. For example, if a small test of a new workflow is implemented (Do), Study would examine metrics like throughput and errors to determine if the workflow actually improved performance before deciding the next steps.