Run Chart Tool

​Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Improvement takes place over time. Determining if improvement has really happened and if it is lasting requires observing patterns over time. Run charts are graphs of data over time and are one of the most important tools for assessing the effectiveness of change.

Run charts have a variety of benefits:

  • They help improvement teams formulate aims by depicting how well (or poorly) a process is performing.
  • They help in determining when changes are truly improvements by displaying a pattern of data that you can observe as you make changes.
  • They give direction as you work on improvement and information about the value of particular changes.

Directions
  • The PDF tool document contains instructions for run charts, an example, and a template.
  • The Microsoft Excel file provides a template to create run charts and consists of two worksheets: the first allows you to enter data and creates a run chart as you enter data; the second provide instructions on how to use a run chart to test for effective changes. (Developed by IHI faculty Richard Scoville, PhD, and used in numerous IHI workshops and Collaboratives.)
Featured Videos
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Control Charts (Part 1)
Robert Lloyd, the Director of Performance Improvement at IHI, uses his trusty whiteboard to dissect the science of improvement. In short videos, he breaks down everything from Deming's System of Profound Knowledge, to the PDSA cycle, to run charts.
Control Charts (Part 2)
Robert Lloyd, the Director of Performance Improvement at IHI, uses his trusty whiteboard to dissect the science of improvement. In short videos, he breaks down everything from Deming's System of Profound Knowledge, to the PDSA cycle, to run charts.
Run Charts (Part 1)
Robert Lloyd, the Director of Performance Improvement at IHI, uses his trusty whiteboard to dissect the science of improvement. In short videos, he breaks down everything from Deming's System of Profound Knowledge, to the PDSA cycle, to run charts.
Run Charts (Part 2)
Robert Lloyd, the Director of Performance Improvement at IHI, uses his trusty whiteboard to dissect the science of improvement. In short videos, he breaks down everything from Deming's System of Profound Knowledge, to the PDSA cycle, to run charts.
The Science of Improvement on a Whiteboard!
Dr. Robert Lloyd, Vice President at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, explains the key elements of the Science of Improvement using a white board in these short videos.

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