The Quality Improvement Handbook

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.

This valuable new book provides quality improvement teams, and their leaders, with a comprehensive set of tools and techniques to solve problems and improve processes in their organizations. The book offers experienced teams instruction on more advanced, less frequently used tools as well as provides detailed guidelines on the basic tools for newly formed teams. The seven quality tools, seven management tools, and an additional 20 tools and techniques have also been incorporated into this title. Both the service and manufacturing industries and environments will find the applications useful. Each tool and technique includes sections that describe the tool, key points in using it, typical applications, an example, and steps in using the tool.

Today's business environment demands faster responses, better service, and increased agility. The Process Improvement Handbook reveals how to design effective process improvement structures, organizations, and cultures to meet those needs. Focusing on specific process improvement knowledge areas, this practical work establishes the foundation required to create, maintain, and measure processes while equipping practitioners with the necessary skills to deliver consistent, successful outcomes. This definitive resource introduces a body of knowledge for anyone looking to improve their operating environment. The result is process self-sufficiency, extensibility, sustainability, higher quality, and overall speed that increases competitive advantage. The principles explained in this book encapsulate everything needed to be more "process mature," and to enable process excellence from start to finish.

The concept of process monitoring and improvement applies to any type of industry: automotive, textiles, food, pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, electronics, aerospace, banking, educational institutions, service providers, and so on. The focus of this book is to identify and apply different process monitoring and improvement tools in any organization. This book is aimed at engineers, scientists, analysts, technicians, managers, supervisors, and all other professionals responsible to measure and improve the quality of their processes. Many times, these professionals do not have a formal education on the use of these tools but learn about them throughout the different improvement projects in which they are involved in their work environment. This book is intended to fill the gap between the lack of formal education in the tools and the need to implement those tools in an improvement project. The book can also be used as a refresher course for those professionals who did learn about these tools as part of their educational background.

The ASQ Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) certification introduces the basics of quality to organizations and individuals who are new to quality. This book, and the Body of Knowledge (BoK) it supports, form a foundation for applying proven quality principles and practices that are used around the world. This handbook follows the CQIA span in both content and sequence. Let it serve as your guide in preparing for the ASQ CQIA examination, and refer to it frequently as you learn and implement these ideas and tools in your organization.

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.