Читать книгу The Quality Improvement Challenge - Richard J. Banchs - Страница 44

Problem statement investigation efforts should include

 The reasons why we should address the problem,

 The consequences of not addressing the problem,

 The “why now?” are we addressing the problem, and

 How the project is linked to the organizational priorities.

Remember, the problem statement should not include any potential causes of the problem or possible solutions to resolve it. One way to create a problem statement is to divided it in three parts: define what we consider the “ideal state” (or standard); define the current state; and identify the gap between the current state and the ideal state. Write a short paragraph addressing each one while answering the relevant questions:

 Ideal state. What would be the ideal performance? What would success look like? What is the standard?

 Current state. What’s the failure? What is the rate of failure (how often is it happening)? How long has it been going on? What’s the background? Who does it affect? What is the patient or customer’s perspective? What is the stakeholder’s perspective? What metrics are currently used to measure the problem? Where is the data coming from? What is the current performance? What is the key output metric that needs to be improved?

 Gap. What is the gap between our current state and the ideal state? What needs to happen?

A problem statement is often supported by a goal statement. The goal statement should be brief and specific, use the same metrics as the problem statement, and include a specific date by which the project should be completed successfully. A goal statement often accompanies the problem statement and defines the targets of the QI project.