File:Healthcare Analytics in Navy Medicine Vol 7 Issue 2 (IA HealthcareAnalyticsVol07Issue02THEMEPROCESSIMPROVEMENT).pdf

Focus on Process Improvement
Improving Process and Performance Using Effective Analytics
Gregory Matthews, MA, Jim Laramie, MS, and Joe Dorris, MA

Navy Medicine’s transformation to a high reliability organization (HRO) is well underway. Performance improvement and process improvement are important terms underlying Navy Medicine’s objectives of improving quality, safety, access, and the patient experience of care. Performance improvement is Navy Medicine’s focus for meeting system-wide objectives by instilling a strong performance improvement culture and embracing high reliability principles and behaviors. Process improvement drives change in the processes at the Command level that may lead to variation in outcomes or performance. Reducing variation in outcomes through continuous process improvement, organizational development, and health systems engineering provides a more uniform experience of care for BUMED patients and furthers Navy Medicine’s journey toward becoming a zero-harm organization. All these efforts rely on analytics to define and measure the current state and the future state. The right data in the right hands at the right time will help identify areas for improvement, drive decision-making, and indicate whether improvement efforts are effective.