The continuous assessment and improvement of the medical sector is a very important issue. The main objective of Statistics process control and Quality improvement in Health care is to improve the quality of medical services provided at hospitals and also help to manage and coordinate change in different centers of the hospital .Statistics process control is a strategic planning method which assists to upgrade systematic processes and outcomes in the health care sector .It improves the quality of health by evaluating and analyzing of data (Lighter, Donald, and Douglas p44).
The key component that can initiate quality improvement in the health sector is through measurement of various factors. Measurement can be determined by isolating and identifying the causes, collecting appropriate amount of relevant data and by evaluating and analyzing data collected. Data should be collected at different sites of the health sector to avoid bias and to assist in comparison for example, the duration of time between which the patients have to wait in order to be served and the quality of the service they receive. Statistics show that hospitals are responsible for causing an estimated 440000 to 98000 annually in the Unites States of America. One of the ways that can contribute to improvement of the healthcare is by changing the manner in which management is handled at the hospital .Change does not normally translate to improvement .In order to differentiate between changes that have the potential to bring better performance to services offered in hospitals, then relevant factors have to be measured by the statistics process control. Control charts are very useful when it comes to statistics process control and are used to create a visual impression and evaluate certain processes such as quality of services and biological processes. The results from the evaluation will determine the effectiveness of the process and methods through which it can be improved and monitored (Carey, p 76).
Consider the duration needed to complete a certain laboratory exercise. Assume that the completion periods are recorded in intervals against time. The graph plotted using the collected figures can easily be used to identify the area which needs improvement, in this case waiting in hospital. Identifying a problem will help the hospital come up with standard procedures that will fasten services and shorten waiting time for outpatients. The standardized procedures enacted will improve the services at the laboratory and patients will no longer spend much time at hospital. Also, the improvement can be plotted on a control chart against time. Other factors can also be analyzed from the charts to ensure the improvement is maintained (Keller, 190).
In order to improve the quality of health using statistics process control, the causes must be identified from past information. For example one might come up with the number of patients who had to wait for more than two hours to be served at the maternity section of the hospital monthly for the past five years. Then the statistics process control methods such as control charts will be used to analyze and establish performance of the service and to detect any unusual underlying cause .Once the data is confirmed and a stable trend is identified, the framework within which statistics process will operate will be established. Control limits will them be used for observation as new information is collected and plotted in a graph (Keller, p90).
Monitoring of various services in hospital is very important. After gathering data it can be plotted in a control chart and help in evaluation and improvement of the entire hospital framework and healthcare in general.
Works cited
Carey, Raymond G. Improving Healthcare with Control Charts: Basic and Advanced Spc Methods and Case Studies. Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press, 2003.
Keller, Paul A. Statistical Process Control Demystified. New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2011
Lighter, Donald E, and Douglas C. Fair. Quality Management in Health Care: Principles and Methods. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett, 2004.
