An Emerging Science of Improvement in Health Care

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the emerging science of improvement in health care and to add a perspective from the industrial quality improvement movement, the use of data from quality registers, and to give some personal reflections and suggestions. Furthermore, we want to introduce to the broader quality management community what is happening in health care with respect to quality improvement. We will discuss some of the challenges of the health care system and the current status of a science of improvement and give some suggestions for further improvements to the area.We discuss a possible extension of improvement knowledge and the theoretical and practical arsenal of a science of improvement, in particular, understanding variation and implications for the use of, for, example control charts. In addition, the normative side of a science of improvement is discussed. The article ends with some brief reflections of use for future research agendas.