The role of Chief Quality Officer (CQO) has emerged across North America and now globally over the last several years. No universal theory or professional development program existed to establish a foundation for the body of knowledge of what a CQO should include or how to lead quality across a complex health system. Dr. Williams […]
The Basic Improvement Toolkit
in Action Learning, Education, Measurement, Process ImprovementAs an improvement advisor in large scale improvement collaboratives, one of my responsibilities is to provide instruction on the theories and tools of improvement science. A key aim is to teach this content at a level appropriate for the audience and even more importantly enable people to turn around and apply the concepts to their own work. […]
Videos: Early Years Collaborative in Scotland – PDSA Testing & Measurement
in Measurement, Process ImprovementThe Early Years Collaborative in Scotland aims to make Scotland the ‘best place to grow up’ by improving the outcomes of children from prenatal care through entry into primary school. This includes focus on prenatal care, health and wellness, childhood development, parental engagement, and improving the family environment. David M. Williams, Ph.D. (@DaveWilliamsATX) supports the […]
U.K. Ambulance Today – Ambulance Trigger Tools
in Best Practices, Measurement, Medic Care Systems, Process Improvement, ResearchThe Winter edition of Ambulance Today, Europe’s leading ambulance magazine, featured an article authored by David M. Williams, Ph.D. The piece focused on efforts in the U.S.A. and U.K. to develop a Global Trigger Tool to measure patient harm in ambulance services based on the in-hospital Global Trigger Tool developed by the Institute for Healthcare […]
EMS World: A New Face of Improvement
in In The News, Medic Care Systems, Process ImprovementJohn Erich, Associate Editor for EMS World, authored a feature article titled A New Face of Improvement: How the theories of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement are affecting patient care and EMS. The article featured David M. Williams, Ph.D. and IHI Executive Director Frank Federico, RPh. and describes some of the core concepts from the […]
What charting software should you use?
in Measurement, Process Improvement, Reviews, TechnologyUnderstanding variation is an essential part of improvement work. Using run charts and Shewhart control charts to track measures and learn about processes is key. So, a common question I get is: What software should I use? Here are three recommendations for most users. 1) Microsoft Office Excel (or equivalent) (Mac & Windows) While there […]
D.S.S.S – Timothy Ferriss’s Model for Rapid Learning
in Action Learning, Process Improvement, Quantified SelfI’ve been a fan of Timothy Ferriss for a number of years. Ferriss is best known for his popular blog and first book – The 4-Hour Work Week – about hacking your life. He has since written The 4-hour Body and The 4-Hour Chef where he applies similar concepts to health and fitness and to cooking. […]
Quantified Self – Self Knowledge Through Numbers
in Measurement, Process Improvement, Quantified SelfIn improvement science, we talk about measurement for learning, but it’s in the context of business processes. Anyone who has worked with an improvement advisor knows that we think so much through the lens of Profound Knowledge that we don’t limit our data tracking to our work, we also collect data on ourselves. I often […]
NHS South West Improvement Profiled at IHI Forum
in health care, In The News, Measurement, Process Improvement, WorkEach year, at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement National Forum in Orlando, FL, project results from across the IHI portfolio are profiled in the annual progress report. This year, one of those projects was the NHS Improvement collaboratives in the South West of England. The run chart above reflects a 7% reduction in Hospital Standardised […]
20 Day Challenge Day 20 – What I Learned
in Other Stuff, Process Improvement, ReflectionsOn the first of August, I started a self-imposed 20 day blog challenge. My aim was to apply the 20 Day PDSA challenge I use with clients to learn about the process of blogging and how I can increase the quality of the content and the quantity of the postings. I also wanted to learn […]