By David M. Williams, PhD Harvardx course Practical Improvement Science in Health Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Frequently, when you look at a problem, you may have questions about various groupings within your data. For example, is there a difference between new staff members vs. experienced staff? Do we see a difference between shifts […]
How Can Mr. Potato Head Help Teach PDSA?
in Building Capability, Measurement, PDSA, Videosby David M. Williams, Ph.D. Interview with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. — If this was helpful, share and include me @DaveWilliamsATX. Sign up here to receive a monthly email from me that includes all my blog posts and other Improvement Science resources I think you’d appreciate.
The Basic Improvement Toolkit
in Education, Measurement, VideosAs 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 Education, Health Care, Measurement, PDSA, VideosThe 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 […]
Did Homicides Really Go Down in Austin?
in Measurement“Murder Numbers Decrease” is the headline in today’s Austin-American Statesman. Public safety reporter Ciara O’Rourke reports on the Austin Police Department’s homicide data released for 2013. Her report indicates there were 24 homicides in Austin in 2013 and that was the least amount in the last three years. Has the homicide rate in Austin really […]
U.K. Ambulance Today – Ambulance Trigger Tools
in Measurement, 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 […]
What charting software should you use?
in MeasurementBy David M. Williams, PhD Understanding 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) […]
Quantified Self – Self Knowledge Through Numbers
in Measurement, 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 […]