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Tools and Strategies for Continuous Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

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Book cover Surgical Patient Care

Abstract

The healthcare delivery system is overly complex, nontransparent, and inefficient. Stakeholders are searching for effective remedies to insure that high-quality care is readily available to all no matter their socioeconomic standing and their location. High-performing healthcare organizations differentiate themselves by focusing relentlessly on attention to detail, and continuously on process-improvement initiatives to advance patient care. The science of continuous quality improvement offers a powerful way of thinking about how to transform clinical operations and healthcare teams to this end. In this chapter, we focus on the five quality improvement tools that we recommend every provider to master—checklists, process maps, Ishikawa diagrams, run charts, and control charts—to improve the process and outcomes of surgical care. The tools help visualize, analyze, and track process and outcome data for both individual and groups of patients and should be used routinely by clinicians and healthcare systems to evaluate and improve care. The tools can be used to achieve measurable improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, performance, accountability, and outcomes of quality in services or processes of care.

“Everyone has two jobs: to do their work and to improve their work.”

—Paul Batalden, M.D.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Center for Healthcare Studies, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 633 North St Clair, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Julie K. Johnson MSPH, PhD

  2. Clinical Professor, Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation and Kyle John Rymiszewski Research Scholar, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 13001, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Paul Barach BSc, MD, MPH, Maj (ret.)

Authors
  1. Julie K. Johnson MSPH, PhD
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  2. Paul Barach BSc, MD, MPH, Maj (ret.)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julie K. Johnson MSPH, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Juan A. Sanchez

  2. Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation and Kyle John Rymiszewski Research Scholar, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Paul Barach

  3. Department of Surgery Center for Healthcare Studies Institute for Public Health and Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Julie K. Johnson

  4. Division of Cardiovascular Surgery Johns Hopkins All Children’s Heart Institute Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins University, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA

    Jeffrey P. Jacobs

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Johnson, J.K., Barach, P. (2017). Tools and Strategies for Continuous Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. In: Sanchez, J., Barach, P., Johnson, J., Jacobs, J. (eds) Surgical Patient Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44010-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44010-1_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44008-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44010-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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