Helping human research protection program professionals create, implement, and evaluate quality assurance/quality improvement programs. Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement Handbook for Human Research is the first comprehensively designed instructional manual aimed at teaching human research protection program (HRPP) professionals how to create, implement, evaluate, and improve QA/QI programs. Geared toward institutions and individuals responsible for establishing new QA/QI programs or functions, the book offers several organizational models for consideration. It also provides practical information for improving and strengthening established programs, both big and small. Written in a conversational style, the book's step-by-step instructions make it easily accessible to those who may not be well versed in QA/QI concepts and fundamentals. Developed by the QA/QI Subcommittee of the Harvard Catalyst Regulatory Foundations, Ethics, and Law Program, which is committed to designing and strengthening QA/QI programs and functions, this volume • includes contributions by fifteen experts with diverse professional experiences from varied organizations • is enhanced with flow charts, examples, sample forms, and templates • incorporates model slide presentations and instructional materials • discusses the respective benefits and challenges of different organizational models • is applicable across many organizational types with a variety of reporting structures and available resources, including academic and medical institutions Perfect for both seasoned personnel and newcomers to the field, Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement Handbook for Human Research is a needed resource for ensuring investigative accountability. Contributors: Hila Bernstein, MS, MPH, Barbara E. Bierer, MD, Elizabeth Bowie, JD, MPH, MSc, Susan Corl, MSW, MPH, CIP, CCRP, Jacquelyn-My Do, MPH, Lisa Gabel, CIP, Alyssa Gateman, MPH, CCRP, Jennifer A. Graf, Nareg D. Grigorian, Leslie M. Howes, MPH, CIP, Jennifer Hutchinson, CIP, CPIA, Cynthia Monahan, MBA, CIP, Eunice Newbert, MPH, Sarah A. White, MPH, CIP, Elizabeth Witte, MFA

Little in the current world is simple. Nothing comes in a box for us to add water and stir. There are those, however, who have been successful and who are willing to share their success. The messages in The Public Health Quality Improvement Handbook are from leaders, physicians, practitioners, academics, consultants, and researchers who are successfully applying the tools and techniques they share. The chapters are written to support the leaders and workforce of our public health community. This book, a collaboration between ASQ and the Public Health Foundation, is an anthology of chapters written by subject matter experts in public health who are successfully meeting client needs, working together to maximize outcomes, and expanding their collaboration with community partners to encourage better health within neighborhoods, counties, and states. There has never been a better time or a more needed one for us to harness the energy, enthusiasm, hard work, and dedication of our public health workforce to make a lasting difference. By effectively using quality improvement tools and techniques, we can and will improve our nation’s health.

The Quality Handbook for Health Care Organizations This important book is a practical, theory-based resource on the topic of health care quality management written for health care administrators and practitioners. It offers the tools needed to help managers make decisions, prioritize resources (financial and human), and analyze and improve the care they deliver. The Handbook offers a hands-on approach to specific topics such as the implementation of managerial goals, instructions for developing accurate measurements for evaluating care, the utilization of data as a basis for process improvement, exploration of quality management tools and techniques, guidelines for the complex integration of collaborative services in health care, and methods for effective communication and improving accountability. In addition, the book is filled with illustrative examples of methods for ensuring appropriate oversight of clinical and quality activities, offers solutions for addressing and preventing adverse events, and explores the important people-to-people interactions that ultimately define excellence in medical care. Praise for The Quality Handbook for Health Care Organizations "The Quality Handbook for Health Care Organizations offers students of health care policy and management a unique opportunity to learn firsthand from one of the nation’s leading experts in health care quality. Dr. Dlugacz’s passion for promoting the highest ideals of quality in health care should inspire future generations of health care professionals." –Alan M. Leiken, chair, Department of Health Care Policy and Management, School of Health Care Policy and Management, School of Health Technology and Management, Health Sciences Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook "This outstanding book combines both the quantitative aspects of data collection and analysis with the critical human behaviors that make up a health care institution’s culture. Only when these two factors combine do true ‘quality’ decisions and patient care result." –Stuart R. Levine, author, The Six Fundamentals of Success "The Quality Handbook reflects the authors’ combination of technical know-how, years of experience, and the enthusiasm for the complex challenge of their work." –Margaret E. O’Kane, president, National Committee of Quality Assurance

Fully revised and updated for the third edition, the Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice remains the first resort for all those working in this broad field. Structured to assist with practical tasks, translating evidence into policy, and providing concise summaries and real-world issues from across the globe, this literally provides a world of experience at your fingertips. Easy-to-use, concise and practical, it is structured into seven parts that focus on the vital areas of assessment, data and information, direct action, policy, health-care systems, personal effectiveness and organisational development. Reflecting recent advances, the most promising developments in practical public health are presented, as well as maintaining essential summaries of core disciplines. This handbook is designed to assist students and practitioners around the world, for improved management of disasters, epidemics, health behaviour, acute and chronic disease prevention, community and government action, environmental health, vulnerable populations, and more.

The book shows readers exactly how to use Lean tools to design healthcare work that is smooth, efficient, error free and focused on patients and patient outcomes. It includes in-depth discussions of every important Lean tool, including value stream maps, takt time, spaghetti diagrams, workcell design, 5S, SMED, A3, Kanban, Kaizen and many more, all presented in the context of healthcare. For example, the book explains the importance of quick operating room or exam room changeovers and shows the reader specific methods for drastically reducing changeover time. Readers will learn to create healthcare value streams where workflows are based on the pull of customer/patient demand. The book also presents a variety of ways to continue improving after initial Lean successes. Methods for finding the root causes of problems and implementing effective solutions are described and demonstrated. The approach taught here is based on the Toyota Production System, which has been adopted worldwide by healthcare organizations for use in clinical, non-clinical and administrative areas.

Applying Quality-Assurance Methods A Report on the National Demonstration Project on Quality Improvement in Health Care This book is recommAnded for managers wanting to enhance service quality and productivity. By avoiding mistakes and useless units of activity, gains in productivity occur as quality improves. --Healthcare Financial Management Learn how health care organizations can use the quality improvement process to help regain control and hope in a time of frustration and skyrocketing costs. In ten key lessons, the authors demonstrate what works and does not work in actual practice. They present case examples of specific health care improvement projects ranging from transport of critically ill infants to quick turnaround of emergency lab specimens and to the generation of accurate Medicare bills.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

This new edition of this bestselling guide offers an integrated approach to process improvement that delivers quick and substantial results in quality and productivity in diverse settings. The authors explore their Model for Improvement that worked with international improvement efforts at multinational companies as well as in different industries such as healthcare and public agencies. This edition includes new information that shows how to accelerate improvement by spreading changes across multiple sites. The book presents a practical tool kit of ideas, examples, and applications.

Second in a series of publications from the Institute of Medicine's Quality of Health Care in America project Today's health care providers have more research findings and more technology available to them than ever before. Yet recent reports have raised serious doubts about the quality of health care in America. Crossing the Quality Chasm makes an urgent call for fundamental change to close the quality gap. This book recommends a sweeping redesign of the American health care system and provides overarching principles for specific direction for policymakers, health care leaders, clinicians, regulators, purchasers, and others. In this comprehensive volume the committee offers: A set of performance expectations for the 21st century health care system. A set of 10 new rules to guide patient-clinician relationships. A suggested organizing framework to better align the incentives inherent in payment and accountability with improvements in quality. Key steps to promote evidence-based practice and strengthen clinical information systems. Analyzing health care organizations as complex systems, Crossing the Quality Chasm also documents the causes of the quality gap, identifies current practices that impede quality care, and explores how systems approaches can be used to implement change.