The Systems Approach to Achieving Continuous Improvement in Healthcare

This presentation argues that a systems approach can significantly enhance healthcare improvement efforts in patient safety, service quality, and healthcare cost containment. The application of systems thinking to healthcare improvement encompasses three key principles: systems perspective of healthcare processes, structured problem-solving, and the closed-loop of continuous system improvement. These are encapsulated in a conceptual framework of continuous system improvement, which includes a reference architecture model and an analysis and design process model. Combined into a closed-loop, this system allows users to understand and appropriately apply relevant functions, issues, and analytical techniques. Practical applications of the framework are presented.