Simana AI Prompt Guide

Simana AI can help healthcare teams and improvement leaders use improvement methods, measurement, data, and organisational learning more confidently. This guide gives example prompts users can adapt when working on a single improvement project, supporting several teams, or governing a wider portfolio of improvement work.

The prompts are not intended to be exhaustive. They are designed to help users understand the kinds of questions they can ask, the types of support Simana AI can provide, and how to give enough context to receive more useful answers.

How To Use This Guide

Short prompts can be useful when you need a quick answer. More detailed prompts are usually better when you want Simana AI to understand your project, data, audience, or decision.

For example, instead of asking only “Improve this aim statement,” it may be more helpful to explain what the project is trying to achieve, where it is happening, and what kind of support you need.

Users can adapt the prompts below by replacing placeholders such as [service/team], [measure], [project aim], [time period], or [audience] with their own context.

A Note Of Caution

Simana AI is designed to support improvement thinking, not replace human judgement.

It can help teams interpret data, structure ideas, suggest next steps, identify risks, and summarise learning. However, improvement teams, advisors, analysts, clinical leaders, and operational leaders should still review recommendations in context, especially where decisions may affect patient care, staff workload, resources, or operational performance.

Use Simana AI as an embedded improvement advisor: a way to improve confidence, consistency, and pace, while keeping people responsible for the final decisions.

Basic vs Better Prompts

Aim Statements

Basic:

“Improve my aim statement.”

Better:

“Review this aim statement for a project focused on reducing discharge delays in the Emergency Department. Help make it specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, while keeping it realistic for a frontline project team.”

Measures

Basic:

“Suggest some measures.”

Better:

“Suggest outcome, process, and balancing measures for a project aiming to reduce the time from decision to discharge to patient leaving the Emergency Department. Include practical operational definitions and suggest how often each measure should be collected.”

Charts

Basic:

“Create a chart from this spreadsheet.”

Better:

“Review this spreadsheet of weekly discharge delay data and recommend the most appropriate chart type. Explain whether a run chart or SPC chart is suitable, create the chart, and tell me what assumptions you have made about the data.”

Chart Interpretation

Basic:

“Analyse this chart.”

Better:

“Analyse this SPC chart and explain whether the data shows normal variation, special cause variation, improvement, or deterioration. Highlight any shifts or trends, explain whether the centre line should be recalculated, and suggest what the project team should do next.”

Project Updates

Basic:

“Summarise this project.”

Better:

“Create a concise project update for a senior leadership meeting. Include the project aim, recent activity, evidence of impact, key risks, support needed, and recommended next steps. Use plain English and avoid technical improvement jargon where possible.”

Portfolio Review

Basic:

“Review our projects.”

Better:

“Review the current improvement portfolio and identify projects that have not been active in the last 30 days, projects missing outcome measures, and projects showing evidence of measurable improvement. Summarise the key governance issues and suggest where improvement advisor support may be needed.”

Starting An Improvement Project

Use these prompts when shaping an improvement idea, defining the problem, or deciding how to begin.

• Help me turn this improvement idea into a clear quality improvement project.
• Based on this project description, suggest a clear aim statement.
• Generate an aim statement for a project focused on reducing [problem] in [service/team].
• What questions should we answer before starting this improvement project?
• Help me define the problem we are trying to solve.
• Suggest a simple project structure for this improvement work.
• What improvement method or tool would be most useful at this stage of the project?
• Review this project idea and identify any assumptions, risks, or gaps.
• Help me explain why this improvement project matters to patients, staff, and the organisation.

Choosing Better Measures

Use these prompts when deciding what to measure, refining existing measures, or reducing data collection burden.

• Suggest outcome, process, and balancing measures for this project.
• Create a measurement plan for this project, including definitions and data collection frequency.
• Review these proposed measures and suggest how they could be strengthened.
• Are these measures likely to show whether improvement is happening?
• Help us distinguish between activity measures and measures of improvement.
• Suggest measures commonly used for projects focused on [topic/problem].
• Recommend operational definitions for these measures so data is collected consistently.
• Help us reduce the burden of collecting this data.
• Identify any important balancing measures we may have missed.
• Review our measures and tell us whether they are practical for a frontline team to collect.
• Suggest how often we should collect each measure and explain why.
• Which of these measures would be most useful for leadership reporting?

Creating Charts From Data

Use these prompts when working with spreadsheet data, choosing chart types, or preparing charts for discussion.

• Turn this spreadsheet into an SPC chart and recommend the most appropriate chart type.
• Create a p-chart from this spreadsheet.
• Review this spreadsheet and tell me whether the data is suitable for a run chart or SPC chart.
• Identify the most appropriate chart type for this measure and explain your reasoning.
• Automatically structure this spreadsheet data so it can be used for improvement charting.
• Calculate centre lines and control limits for this chart.
• Add a process break after [intervention/date] and explain how it affects interpretation.
• Suggest useful annotations for this chart.
• Configure this chart so it is easier to explain to [audience].
• Create charts comparing performance across [teams/sites/services].
• Review this chart and suggest how to present it more clearly.

Understanding Results And Variation

Use these prompts when interpreting charts, identifying signals, and deciding what the data is telling you.

• Analyse this chart and tell me what it suggests about variation and performance.
• Does this chart show evidence of improvement, deterioration, or normal variation?
• Are there any shifts, trends, or special cause signals in this chart?
• Explain why this SPC rule may have been triggered.
• Should we recalculate the centre line on this chart? Explain why or why not.
• Help me understand whether this data point needs action or observation.
• Are we overreacting to random variation in this data?
• What conclusions can we reasonably draw from this chart?
• What conclusions should we avoid drawing from this chart?
• Help us connect our interventions to the signals shown in this chart.
• Explain this chart in simple terms for a non-technical audience.
• Summarise the key insights from this chart for a project update.

Planning Next Steps

Use these prompts when deciding what to test, adapt, continue, stop, or scale.

• Based on this chart and project activity, what should our next step be?
• Suggest practical next steps for this project over the next 30 days.
• Generate PDSA cycle ideas for testing [change idea].
• Improve this PDSA plan so the test is smaller, clearer, and easier to learn from.
• What should we test next if our latest change idea did not lead to improvement?
• What should we do if performance has improved but is not yet sustained?
• Are we ready to move from testing to implementation? Explain your reasoning.
• What risks should we consider before making this change permanent?
• Help us decide whether to continue, adapt, or stop this change idea.
• What should we do before scaling this change to another team?
• Suggest actions that would help sustain this improvement.
• Identify what we still need to learn before making a wider change.

Improving Project Content

Use these prompts when refining project documentation, plans, diagrams, updates, or explanations.

• Improve this aim statement so it is clearer, measurable, and time-bound.
• Help us make this project description more focused and easier to understand.
• Refine this driver diagram so the drivers and change ideas are more logically connected.
• Create a driver diagram for this project aim.
• Suggest change ideas for improving [process/outcome].
• Review this project update and identify any risks, gaps, or unclear claims.
• Improve this project update so it is clearer for senior leaders.
• Suggest better annotations for this chart so the story of improvement is easier to understand.
• Help me rewrite this project summary for [audience].
• Review this project and suggest where the team may need support.

Explaining And Coaching

Use these prompts when users want to build confidence in improvement methods, measurement, SPC, or project decisions.

• Explain the difference between outcome, process, and balancing measures using this project as an example.
• Explain why this chart type is suitable for this data.
• Explain what special cause variation means in simple terms.
• What does this SPC rule mean, and how should our team respond?
• Explain how we should choose between a run chart and an SPC chart.
• Coach me through how to interpret this chart for a project meeting.
• What should we be careful about when presenting this data to leadership?
• Explain why balancing measures matter for this project.
• Help me prepare to discuss this chart with colleagues who are unfamiliar with SPC.
• Explain the improvement logic behind this driver diagram.
• What improvement concepts should our team understand before starting this project?

Summarising And Reporting

Use these prompts when preparing updates, reports, handovers, governance papers, or communication for stakeholders.

• Summarise this project for a senior leadership audience.
• Create a concise update covering progress, evidence of impact, risks, and next steps.
• Generate a project update summary for our next governance meeting.
• Turn this project activity into a monthly report.
• Create a plain-English explanation of this chart for stakeholders.
• Summarise what has changed since the last project update.
• Draft a benefits summary based on this project’s measures and outcomes.
• Create a handover summary for a new project lead.
• Summarise the key learning from these PDSA cycles.
• Draft a short summary of our project for colleagues in another team.
• Create a one-page project summary for [audience].
• Help us describe the impact of this project without overstating the evidence.

Finding, Comparing, And Learning From Other Work

Use these prompts when looking across organisational improvement work to find relevant projects, measures, ideas, or learning.

• Find similar projects in the organisation that focused on [topic/problem].
• Which projects have used similar measures to this one?
• What change ideas have other teams tested for this type of problem?
• Compare this project with similar projects and identify useful learning.
• Which projects appear to have achieved sustained improvement in [area]?
• What common themes are emerging across projects focused on [priority]?
• Identify examples of successful practice that could be shared more widely.
• Which teams might benefit from learning about this project?
• Which services have multiple projects tackling similar issues?
• What barriers are being reported across projects like this one?
• Find projects that may provide useful examples for our team.
• Summarise lessons learned from completed projects related to [topic].

Portfolio And Governance

Use these prompts when reviewing a group of projects, preparing governance discussions, or identifying where support may be needed.

• Which projects have not been active in the last 30 days?
• Which projects are missing outcome measures?
• Which projects have measures but no recent data?
• Which active projects are showing measurable improvement?
• Which projects may need improvement advisor support?
• Summarise the current improvement portfolio by theme, service, and status.
• Identify projects that appear to be at risk of losing momentum.
• Which projects are aligned to our organisational priorities?
• What are the main risks across our improvement portfolio?
• Prepare a governance summary showing progress, impact, stalled work, and support needs.
• Which projects are showing impact but have not been shared more widely?
• Which projects may be suitable for spread or scale?
• Which teams are achieving sustained improvement in [priority area]?
• What themes are emerging across improvement work this quarter?
• Where should improvement leadership focus attention this month?
• Which projects should be prioritised for review at the next governance meeting?

Final Reminder

The best prompts usually give Simana AI enough context to understand the improvement work, the data or project information being used, the audience for the response, and the decision the user is trying to make.

A useful prompt does not need to be long, but it should be clear about what help is needed.