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Quality Improvement

This document discusses quality improvement processes in fields like healthcare and education. It explores what quality improvement is, which is a structured approach to evaluating systems and processes to determine needed improvements. A quality improvement plan describes an ongoing process for stakeholders to monitor initiatives and results. The document notes that quality improvement is data-driven, focuses on processes rather than people, and involves employees to understand processes.

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186 views1 page

Quality Improvement

This document discusses quality improvement processes in fields like healthcare and education. It explores what quality improvement is, which is a structured approach to evaluating systems and processes to determine needed improvements. A quality improvement plan describes an ongoing process for stakeholders to monitor initiatives and results. The document notes that quality improvement is data-driven, focuses on processes rather than people, and involves employees to understand processes.

Uploaded by

daniel_sasikumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Who doesn’t want to provide their clients and customers with the best products and services?

All
businesses want to improve the quality of their offerings, but not everyone has the same idea of
what constitutes the best or the highest quality. And people differ on how to achieve such aims.
Especially in fields like healthcare and education, where evaluations often rely on results rather
than tallies, a formal quality improvement (QI) process can be essential.

In this article, we will explore quality improvement processes in fields such as healthcare and
education, uncover the must-haves in a good QI plan, and study the methods and tools to pursue
a strong strategy. You’ll also find links to templates and best practices from a QI expert.

What Is Quality Improvement?


Quality improvement is a structured approach to evaluating the performance of systems and
processes, then determining needed improvements in both functional and operational areas.
Successful efforts rely on the routine collection and analysis of data. A quality improvement plan
describes an ongoing, or continuous, process through which an organization’s stakeholders can
monitor and evaluate initiatives and results.

Based on the thinking of such experts as W. Edward Demings, QI principles were developed in
manufacturing in the 1940s. In the last two decades, QI processes have also become popular in
healthcare and education.

Although organizations take many approaches, QI at its foundation concerns process


management. If organizations operate according to many processes, by reviewing and improving
one process at a time and leveraging the Pareto principle, they can more easily and gradually
improve their entire system.

Quality improvement processes share these characteristics:

 Quality improvement is data driven and regards the quantitative approach as the only
reliable means to influence the qualitative elements. This principle is expressed in the
following saying of quality improvement guru W. Edwards Deming: “The right data in
the right format in the right hands at the right time.”
 QI focuses on processes, not people. In other words, the individual is never at fault.
 QI involves people as part of the improvement solution and looks for what is attributed to
Deming as “the smart cogs,” the employees who are directly involved in and best
understand the processes in an organization.

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