A case study section illustrates the application of specific statistical and problem-solving tools to questions that arise in healthcare settings. An X-MR chart, for example, helps analyze baseline performance for patient waiting time, and a c-chart demonstrates whether surgical complication rates are increasing or decreasing, pointing the way for further analysis based on solid data rather than seat-of-the-pants decision-making.
Collecting data and analyzing its implications have become a way of life in health care, required for meeting JCAHO standards and certifying the quality of processes. Among the tools and charts that you will find useful in your health care environment are:
* control charts (X-bar R, X-MR, np, p, c, and u charts)
* control chart interpretation
* histograms
* Pareto diagrams
* affinity diagrams
* cause-and effect tools
* flow charts
* force field analysis
* capability analysis
A glance through this collection of useful, easy-to-apply tools will stimulate ways in which you can begin immediately to put them to use in your own environment to improve every process for which you are responsible.