Acuity systems and control charting

The strengths of control charting and other statistical process control (SPC) tools have not previously been applied to acuity systems. Intermountain Health Care, Salt Lake City, Utah, developed a new acuity system that relies heavily upon control charting for an array of purposes, including immediate feedback to caregivers regarding decisions, ongoing feedback to managers regarding decision patterns, and longer-term feedback regarding trends and budget-relevant information. The use of control charts has eliminated the need for auditing acuity-based staffing and has maintained the reliability of classifications at levels above 95 percent. Implications for other novel applications are offered.