Davis Balestracci
In my last column, I discussed how even a well-designed study with a statistically significant result doesn’t necessarily mean viability in the real world. Post-study, one must study the...
Davis Balestracci
I have evolved to using fewer, simpler tools in my consulting and have never been more effective, as I commented upon in my last column. It made me ponder the relevance of much of what I learned in...
Davis Balestracci
I've been presenting at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) annual forum for 21 consecutive years. Maybe the biggest surprise from these two decades has been the awesome...
Davis Balestracci
For those of you who are improvement practitioners, are you satisfied with the organizational results of your efforts? I have a feeling most of you would answer, “Far from it,” and would...
Davis Balestracci
During my recent travels speaking at conferences and consulting, root cause analysis (RCA) seems to have taken on a life of its own and is now a well-established subindustry in any organization,...
Davis Balestracci
There has been an explosion in new technology for acquiring, storing, and processing data. The “big data” movement (and its resulting sub-industry, data mining) is becoming more prevalent and...
Davis Balestracci
My last article demonstrated a common incorrect technique—based in “traditional” statistics—for comparing performances based on percentage rates. This article will use the same data to show...
Davis Balestracci
I chatted about u-charts for rates last time, and this column was going to be about p-charts for percentage data. These are the two major charts for dealing with count data and are helpful for...
Davis Balestracci
My last column, “Dealing With Count Data and Variation,” showed how a matrix presentation of stratified count data could be quite effective as a common-cause strategy. I’ll use this column to...
Davis Balestracci
In my last column, I showed the power of process-oriented thinking with a safety scenario. A simple run chart demonstrated that, despite meeting an aggressive 25-percent reduction goal (i.e., 45...
