Control, compare and communicate: designing control charts to summarise efficiently data from multiple quality indicators
- Correspondence to: DrB Guthrie Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Dundee, MacKenzie Building, Kirsty Semple Way, Dundee DD2 4BF, UK; b.guthrie{at}chs.dundee.ac.uk
- Accepted 11 September 2005
Abstract
Summarising the complex data generated by multiple cross sectional quality indicators in a way that patients, clinicians, managers and policymakers find useful is challenging. A common approach is aggregation to create summary measures such as star ratings and balanced score cards, but these may conceal the detail needed to focus quality improvement. We propose an alternative way of summarising and presenting multiple quality indicators, suitable for use for quality improvement and governance. This paper discusses (1) control charts for repeated measurements of single processes as used in industrial statistical process control (SPC); (2) control charts for cross sectional comparison of many institutions for a single quality indicator (rarely used in industry but commonly proposed for health care); and (3) small multiple graphics which combine control chart signal extraction with efficient graphical presentations for multiple indicators.
Footnotes
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This study was funded by the Health Foundation and the Chief Scientist’s Office of the Scottish Executive Health Department.
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Competing interests: none.
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BG had the idea for the paper, designed the first version of the small multiples, and wrote the first draft. All authors discussed the results, contributed to development of the design, and wrote the paper.
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Ethical approval for the study was granted by Tayside local research ethics committee
