by David M. Williams, Ph.D. Provost & Murray. (2010). Health Care Data Guide. Figure 14.18. P. 127 Have you taken one of those silly quizzes on social media that ask you to answer several questions and then it tells you what political candidate is most like you or what part of the country you’re from? […]
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?
in COVID-19, Systems, Tools & MethodsBy David M Williams, PhD Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash I’m not the best at small talk. A closet introvert, I’m not the first one to start a conversation. That doesn’t mean I don’t like meeting new people, getting to know them, or going to parties. In Steve Harper’s book The Ripple Effect, when […]
Lowering the Water Level
in COVID-19, Tools & MethodsBy David M Williams, PhD Photo by Abel’s Shots on Unsplash “Two boxes of mac & cheese, four packs of Nutella & Go, six Cliff Bars…..Dad, these anchovies expired in 2017,” my son Nate called out as he inventoried our pantry and refrigerator and tossed out what was expired. As the stay-at-home order hit […]
Is it the method or my knowledge and execution?
in Improvement Science, PDSA, Public Safety, Tools & MethodsBy David M. Williams, PhD If you experience chest pain and dial 911 in most communities, an ambulance will respond in a timely and predictable manner to render aid. Many people don’t realize that modern ambulance service is a relatively new public service and began to professionalize in the 1970s. This predictability and reliability was […]
Tracking Project Progress
in Measurement, Tools & MethodsBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. Improvement projects follow a trajectory from forming a team and chartering through achieving sustainable results. Whether leading a single project or monitoring a portfolio, having a strategy for gauging project progress is useful in identifying projects that are stuck and in supporting movement forward. One useful tool the Institute for […]
Selecting an Ideal Improvement Project
in Tools & MethodsBy David M. Williams, Ph.D. There are many types of activities that are labeled “projects,” but not all are “improvement projects” aimed at changing the underlying process or system to get a different measurable result. Other projects may not be ideal for a host of reasons. It’s common for novice improvers to have trouble picking […]
How many data points do I need?
in Improvement Science, Measurement, Tools & Methods, Variationby David M. Williams, Ph.D. This is part of a series of blog posts on measurement for improvement. You can read them all here. One of the most common questions for a new improver is: How many data points do I need to start a chart? The answer is just 1. Starting with the first […]
Video: Four Run Chart Rules
in Health Care, Measurement, Tools & Methods, Variation, VideosBy David M. Williams, PhD Harvardx course Practical Improvement Science in Health Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. So as we’re getting enough data, we have the ability to start using more sophisticated tools. And when we get 12 data points in a run chart, we can begin to use four rules to help us […]
Creating a Run Chart in Microsoft Excel
in Health Care, Measurement, Tools & Methods, Variation, VideosBy David M. Williams, PhD Harvardx course Practical Improvement Science in Health Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Now you can build a run chart by hand, and I actually strongly encourage that, because it’s really useful to sit down and have that relationship with putting your own data in and knowing where the changes […]
The Elements of a Run Chart
in Health Care, Measurement, Tools & Methods, Variation, VideosBy David M. Williams, PhD Harvardx course Practical Improvement Science in Health Care with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. A run chart includes several elements. There’s a y-axis, that’s the one that goes up and down on the left hand side, and this shows what you’re actually measuring. This is what your data is about. Along […]