Variation

January 2, 2023

Operational Definition of Improvement

By David M. Williams, Ph.D. “What is YOUR definition of ‘improvement’?” she asked. The leadership team just finished reviewing the improvement efforts

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February 7, 2021

How to Assess and Reboot

by David M. Williams, Ph.D. Photo by İrfan Simsar on Unsplash Whether you are a leader in a new role or one wanting

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Using Your Vector of Measures to Guide Action

By David M. Williams, Ph.D. Figure. Vector of Measures Displayed in Shewhart Charts Source: Mecklenburg EMS Agency, Charlotte, NC, USA One of

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October 4, 2020

Drilling Down into Aggregate Data

By David M. Williams, Ph.D. Every organization tracks a family of measures with data from various moments of time. The list of

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August 6, 2020

Benchmarking – How do we compare?

By David M. Williams, Ph.D.   No one likes to talk about dying. Sudden death due to heart disease occurs 250,000 times

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July 2, 2020

Problem-Solving by Learning From the Process

By David M. Williams, Ph.D. Photo by Bluehouse Skis on Unsplash Let’s face it…patient care documentation is not the most enjoyable aspect of

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April 30, 2020

Control Charts – What’s in a name?

by David M. Williams, Ph.D. Provost & Murray. (2010). Health Care Data Guide. Figure 14.18. P. 127 Have you taken one of

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March 14, 2020

Hand Washing, Standard Work, and PDSA Testing

By David M Williams, PhD Photo by Curology on Unsplash Many changes we want to implement in daily practice appear obvious and simple. It’s easy

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November 1, 2019

How many data points do I need?

by David M. Williams, Ph.D. This is part of a series of blog posts on measurement for improvement. You can read them

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July 5, 2019

Coin Spin PDSA Exercise

By David M. Williams, PhD Several years ago, I was facilitating an improvement learning session and planned to use an exercise to help

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