Statistical Process Control - Tutorial Guide

Tutorial Guide Statistical Monitoring Quality in Healthcare Process Clinical Indicators Support Team Control 1 Contents Introduction History of SPC 1 Understanding Variation 1.1 Types of Variation 1.2 Sources of Variation 1.3 Causes of Variation 1.4 Tools for Identifying Process Variation 2 SPC Charts – Dynamic Processes 2.1 Constructing a Run Chart 2.2 Interpreting a Run Chart 2.3 Constructing a Control 2.4 Interpreting a Control Chart 3 SPC Charts – Static Processes 3.1 Constructing a Funnel Chart 3.2 Interpreting a Funnel Chart 4 Alternative SPC Charts 4.1 CUSUM and EWMA Charts 4.2 g-Charts Contacts Useful References Appendix2 Introduction NHSScotland routinely collects a vast array of data from healthcare processes. The analysis of these data can provide invaluable insight into the behaviour of these healthcare processes. Statistical Process Control (SPC) techniques, when applied to measurement data, can be used to highlight areas that would benefit from further investigation. These techniques enable the user to identify variation within their process. Understanding this variation is the first step towards quality improvement. There are many different SPC techniques that can be applied to data. The simplest SPC techniques to implement are the run and control charts. The purpose of these techniques is to identify when the process is displaying ...