Tuesday, October 16, 2007

8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Welcome, Introduction, and Overview

Robert Lloyd and Richard Scoville

During this session attendees will meet the faculty, and review the agenda and objectives for this seminar. Attendees will get to know each other as they share how this seminar fits in to their organization’s overall plan for improvement.

The Theory  of Profound Knowledge

W. Edwards Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge is a useful framework for approaching projects and problems. Faculty will talk about how this framework can be used in improvement work.  

Introduction to the Model for Improvement

The Model for Improvement (MFI), developed by Associates in Process Improvement, is a simple, yet powerful tool for accelerating improvement. The MFI is not meant to replace change models that organizations may already be using, but rather to accelerate improvement.  This model provides the organizing framework for the course.

Organizing for Improvement

What’s the best way to staff and organize an improvement team? Who should participate? What is the role of senior management? During this session, faculty will share proven experience about the most effective ways to manage improvement projects.

Creating Reliable Operating Systems

Why is reliability important? What is a ‘reliable’ process? Learn the essential concepts and techniques for creating processes that don’t rely on ‘simply trying harder’ for successful operations.

Setting Achievable Goals

The first crucial question is: What are we trying to accomplish, and the next critical question is: How do we ensure that our goals are achievable based on the resources available? The first step in a successful improvement project is creating an effective charter. Faculty will provide guidance as attendees work to create their own charters.

Generating Ideas for Change

How do you identify and prioritize ideas for change? During this session attendees will learn how to single out changes that will improve your system; multiple methods and tools for developing change will be discussed.

Prioritizing Changes Using Comprehensive Systems Thinking

The best ideas for change come from a profound understanding of the process you’re trying to improve. Attendees will learn IHI’s new systematic approach to analyzing and prioritizing changes based on comprehensive systems thinking.

Using and Applying Change Concepts

What are change concepts? How can they help you generate specific, testable ideas for change? How can you apply them to your own projects? Attendees will learn about these tools and try them out during this session.

Generating Creative Ideas for Change

How do you generate good ideas for change? Attendees will learn about and practice several techniques for unlocking their organization’s creativity and imagination during this session.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

8:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Measuring for Quality Improvement

Every improvement requires change, but not all changes are improvements; so how will we know that a change is an improvement? Faculty will lead a discussion on the role of quantitative measurement and how to use data in analyzing improvement work.

Navigating the Quality Improvement Journey

How does one navigate the Quality Measurement Journey?  During this session, faculty will provide guidance on selecting measures, building clear operational definitions, stratification, sampling strategies and the creation of strategic dashboards.

Understanding Variation

A manager’s dilemma is often this: When should you intervene to change a process, or simply leave it alone? The answer to this question hinges on one’s ability to recognize common and special causes of variation.  This session will review the differences between static and dynamic ways to analyze data and will provide attendees with the knowledge to know when to take action based on results.

Using Run and Control Charts to Understand Variation

How will know that your process change is really effective and not just random variation? Faculty will review the key concepts of statistical process control and the tools that enable you to answer this question. In this session attendees will learn to create and analyze run charts, and will be introduced to Shewhart control charts.

Executing Improvement

How do the components of profound knowledge come together to produce results? In this section faculty will discuss the tools and techniques needed to move quickly to achieve specific aims.

Testing Change

Attendees will learn about the PDSA cycle and how you can use it to identify changes that work. They will then participate in exercises to solidify their understanding of this tool.

Implementing Change

Faculty will address the following questions during this session: What is the difference between testing and implementing changes? How do you effectively plan for implementation of a change? How do you spread it beyond the small test site, and ensure the change will stick? How do you handle resistance to change?

Planning for Sustainability and Spread

True improvement takes place amidst the buzz of daily demands, competing budget priorities, organizational strategies, and many other issues. Successful improvement projects incorporate solid project management principles and planning. Faculty will review proven methods for keeping improvement on track for success, before wrapping up the seminar.

Wrap-Up