MHA 6600 - Quality Management in Healthcare

Quality improvement is the science of process management. The concept of processes provides a compelling overarching structure for any human activity that creates or adds value. The first person to describe a process management system in a systematic way was Dr. W. Edwards Deming. He initially introduced his ideas and methods in manufacturing. They transformed manufacturing worldwide, generating the maxim “Do Deming or die” across many different industries. They also underlie all current approaches to quality in health care delivery (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, ISO-9000, Baldridge) and form the foundation of a new clinical discipline called Care Delivery Science.