A continuous quality improvement program is an essential component of a comprehensive, quality diabetes education program. Standards, guidelines and policies serve as the base from which quality care is evaluated. Clinical care providers need to be aware not only of the standards, but of how their performance (both individually and collectively if working within a group) measures up to the standards. This session will review clinical standards (including the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education from the US) as well as operational standards used at Joslin Diabetes Center to measure productivity. Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act CQI model as a framework, this session will break down the components of a comprehensive CQI program and discuss how these steps might be implemented in a real-world setting. Application to clinical, behavioral and operational quality improvement projects will be discussed.