What Is Rapid-Cycle Evaluation and Adaptation in Healthcare?

Published: August 6th, 2025

The days of six-foot distancing and mandatory mask policies may be behind us, but it wasn’t long ago that we were all adjusting to the “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic. In those early days, everything from testing to triage felt chaotic, and limited resources left healthcare staff and patients scrambling to keep up.

So, how did hospitals and clinics adapt quickly and efficiently in the face of so much uncertainty?

They turned to a method called rapid-cycle evaluation and adaptation (RCEA), a strategy used by implementation scientists to improve healthcare programs while they’re still in use. With this framework, teams skip the months-long process of traditional evaluations and instead test changes in real time, gather feedback and refine their approach within days or weeks.

What We’ll Cover

In this article, we’ll explore:

What RCEA is and how it works
The step-by-step process behind RCEA
Key features that make it unique
When and where it’s most useful in healthcare

Key Features of RCEA

Also known as simply rapid-cycle evaluation (RCE), this framework stands out from other evaluation methods in a few key ways. Here are the features that make it unique:

Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) Model

At the heart of RCEA is the PDSA cycle, a simple yet powerful framework for continuous improvement. Each cycle includes four steps:

Plan a small, specific change
Do or implement that change
Study the results using quick, real-world data
Act on what’s learned to either scale up, revise, or move in a new direction

This approach keeps evaluations closely tied to practice, so teams are learning and improving as they go — without disrupting the flow of the interventions.

Small, Iterative Cycles

Instead of waiting months or years to see if a large-scale intervention works, RCEA favors short, focused cycles, often just one to four weeks long. These mini-trials allow teams to test one change at a time, respond to feedback and keep building on what works.

Flexible and Responsive by Design

Traditional healthcare interventions can take years to roll out, and they often stall when early results are unclear or mixed. RCEA offers a more flexible approach. Because the intervention is already in motion, teams can quickly adjust based on real-time data.

This flexibility is critical, especially when programs need to show value before stakeholders lose interest or funding is pulled. Everyone involved, from frontline staff to leadership, stays engaged and ready to pivot.

How Does Rapid-Cycle Evaluation Work? A Step-by-Step Example

To see how rapid-cycle evaluation works in practice, let’s return to 2020: the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Imagine you’re working in a hospital where overwhelmed staff, shifting CDC guidelines and equipment shortages are creating long wait times in the COVID triage and testing area.

Here’s how your hospital team might apply RCEA to quickly respond and improve protocols in real time:

1. Define a Clear Goal

“Can we reduce patient wait times in our triage area by 10% within the next month?”

This question gives the team a specific, measurable target to guide the upcoming changes.

2. Design a Small Change

Rather than overhauling the entire triage process, the team proposes a small adjustment: Introduce a short screening questionnaire at the entrance to direct patients more efficiently. This will make it easier to identify whether incoming patients need urgent care, routine care or are unlikely to need COVID services.

3. Gather Quick Data

To assess impact, the team keeps data collection simple:

Staff jot down arrival and triage times on a clipboard.
Nurses provide informal feedback during shift changes.

These real-time observations help generate early insights without adding an administrative burden.

4. Analyze Rapidly

After just one week, the team reviews the initial results. Wait times decreased by 13%, showing progress. However, some patients had difficulty filling out the form without help.

This kind of quick analysis helps the team adjust course without waiting for a lengthy formal report.

5. Share Findings and Make Adjustments

The team meets to discuss the data and decides to:

Simplify the language on the form
Assign a staff member to assist patients at the entrance

These tweaks address the challenges identified during the first cycle, improving clarity and patient experience.

6. Repeat the Cycle

With the revised form and support in place, the team launches a second testing cycle, this time at additional entry points at the hospital. If the changes continue to show improvement, they can eventually scale up across the entire facility.

This example highlights the value of rapid-cycle evaluation. Instead of waiting months for traditional evaluations, healthcare teams can test, learn and adapt continuously, making real-time improvements that benefit both staff and patients.

If you’re looking for a quick refresher or want to skim the key steps, here’s a simple breakdown of how rapid-cycle evaluation works from start to finish:

When and Why to Use RCEA

Like any framework, RCEA has its ideal use cases. It’s especially helpful when other evaluation methods might be too slow or costly.

RCEA works best for:

New workflows
If an intervention is mostly successful but needs a minor tweak, RCEA lets you improve the part that needs attention while keeping the existing process running smoothly. You don’t need to overhaul everything — just adjust what’s necessary to make the whole system more effective.
Limited resources
When time or budget constraints limit your options, RCEA offers an effective solution. Some interventions are time-sensitive or don’t have funding for expensive consultants. RCEA provides a cost-efficient alternative, letting teams make data-driven improvements without extra overhead.

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With UF’s online Implementation Science Graduate Certificate, you’ll gain hands-on experience in designing, evaluating and adapting health interventions. This program gives you practical, evidence-based tools to drive real-world improvements in healthcare. Whether you’re a healthcare professional or researcher, this certificate will empower you to create positive change in the field.

Explore our program to learn how you can get started today.

Sources:
https://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/blog/pdsa-cycles-improvement-and-implementation
https://www.ashp.org/-/media/assets/pharmacy-practice/resource-centers/quality-improvement/learn-about-quality-improvement-rapid-cycle-methodology.pdf

University of Florida

Implementation Science

College of Medicine