This is a manual of quality improvement for healthcare managers. It is presented in two parts: ""Basic Concepts & Manual,"" and ""Cases."" The purpose is to provide a specific, concrete how-to manual for quality improvement. This objective is somewhat worthy. As the author suggests, there is little how-to information in the current literature. However, most of the tools the author describes are presented in the quality improvement training sessions offered by many health services organizations. Nonetheless, the book definitely meets the author's objectives. According to the author, this book is for ""problem solvers and quality improvers in health services organizations and for students preparing to join them."" The author's target audience is appropriate. The book is most valuable for department managers, service chiefs, and front line supervisors, and somewhat valuable for the senior administrators who oversee them. The author is a credible authority, based on her academic credentials, experience collaborating with health services organizations, and the book's content. All of the common quality improvement tools for each phase of the quality improvement process, including problem identification, cause analysis, solution identification, implementation, and monitoring are described. The author makes extensive use of examples (charts, graphs, tables). The case examples are appropriate and instructive. This book represents a significant contribution to the literature in exactly the manner in which the author intends -- a detailed how-to manual for front-line problem solvers. The content is accurate, well organized, and very clearly presented. While much of the content is already coveredelsewhere, this book can serve as a useful reference when the details of training fade, as they inevitably do.
Gilpatrick (health services, City U. of New York) provides the basic terminology and guidelines for carrying out nuts-and-bolts quality improvement research, and demonstrates how to do it on 14 case studies from real life. For middle-level managers and administrators who need to conduct chronic or acute research at the department or service level, she explains data collection design and analysis related to organizational processes and outcomes. She does not consider the clinical evaluation of treatments. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Reviewer: Charles Runge(Froedtert Hospital)
Description: This is a manual of quality improvement for healthcare managers. It is presented in two parts: "Basic Concepts & Manual," and "Cases."
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a specific, concrete how-to manual for quality improvement. This objective is somewhat worthy. As the author suggests, there is little how-to information in the current literature. However, most of the tools the author describes are presented in the quality improvement training sessions offered by many health services organizations. Nonetheless, the book definitely meets the author's objectives.
Audience: According to the author, this book is for "problem solvers and quality improvers in health services organizations and for students preparing to join them." The author's target audience is appropriate. The book is most valuable for department managers, service chiefs, and front line supervisors, and somewhat valuable for the senior administrators who oversee them. The author is a credible authority, based on her academic credentials, experience collaborating with health services organizations, and the book's content.
Features: All of the common quality improvement tools for each phase of the quality improvement process, including problem identification, cause analysis, solution identification, implementation, and monitoring are described. The author makes extensive use of examples (charts, graphs, tables). The case examples are appropriate and instructive.
Assessment: This book represents a significant contribution to the literature in exactly the manner in which the author intends — a detailed how-to manual for front-line problem solvers. The content is accurate, well organized, and very clearly presented. While much of the content is already covered elsewhere, this book can serve as a useful reference when the details of training façade, as they inevitably do.
