Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Measuring for improvement: from Toyota to thoracic surgery.

J M Levett1, R G Carey

  • 1Department of Surgery, Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, Illinois, USA.

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
|September 4, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Statistical process control charts help healthcare monitor process stability and detect variations. This ensures more accurate quality measurement than traditional summary statistics.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Measuring health care quality. How do you know your care has improved?

Evaluation & the health professions·2000
Same author

Bradycardia induced by intravascular versus direct stimulation of the vagus nerve.

The Annals of thoracic surgery·1998
Same author

Cardiac augmentation can be maintained by continuous exposure of intrinsic cardiac neurons to a beta-adrenergic agonist or angiotensin II.

The Journal of surgical research·1996
Same author

Evaluating the physician office visit: in pursuit of a valid and reliable measure of quality improvement efforts.

The Journal of ambulatory care management·1995
Same author

Leiomyosarcoma of the superior vena cava and azygos vein.

The Annals of thoracic surgery·1995
Same author

Measuring quality: report cards get low grades.

QRC advisor·1995

Area of Science:

  • Healthcare Quality Improvement
  • Statistical Process Control
  • Medical Process Monitoring

Background:

  • Quality measurement is crucial in managed care.
  • Traditional research methods are not ideal for surgical process improvement.
  • Statistical process control (SPC) techniques are increasingly applied in healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the application of SPC charts in healthcare settings.
  • To highlight the benefits of SPC for monitoring clinical processes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of SPC chart applications for coronary artery bypass grafting mortality.
  • Analysis of SPC for intensive care unit admission time.
  • Evaluation of SPC for length of stay monitoring.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • SPC charts enable determination of process stability.
  • SPC charts effectively detect significant or special cause variations.
  • Control chart methodology provides insights into process performance.

Conclusions:

  • Current summary statistics lack assurance of process stability.
  • Statistically validated methods like control charts are needed for accurate process monitoring.
  • Monitoring healthcare data over time with control charts improves the reliability of quality statistics.