Practical Solutions for Healthcare Management and Policy (Collection)

Chapter 7Solving Problems: Improve and Control

Sections

Improve PhaseControl PhaseEndnotesSample Healthcare Excellence Project Forms: Solving the Problem

A good problem definition is considered to be the halfway point through solving the problem. During the first three phases of DMAIC, we gained knowledge about the process activities, process performance, process problems, and potential causative relationship between the problems and its sources. In Chapter 6, "Understanding Problems," we ended up with a clear definition of the problems and a reduced number of critical variables that form the likely recipe of the solution.

In this chapter, we work with the remaining key variables and develop a recipe for improvement. In order to reduce the number ...