Performance improvement project (FOCUS PDCA) and patient safety

Introduction: FOCUS PDCA  instrument created to particularly address the complex challenges the healthcare industry faces from expanding quality requests  The methodology  gives a structure to direct problem solving and prepare enhancement exercises by setting up a comprehensive investigation, reaction, activity arrange, FOCUS PDCA is comprised of two components – one utilized to distinguish and the other to implement. FOCUS an acronym whose steps offer assistance to streamline the method of distinguishing the region of a healthcare organization that requires change, bringing together a group competent of accomplishing that improvement, and selecting conceivable arrangement to execute the improvement. Broken down by its parts, here is how FOCUS works: Find: a process to improve – Identify the process improvement opportunity.
Organize the effort to work on improvement – Identify who the key stakeholders in the workflow and the process are and who should be involved of the improvement team
Clarify: current knowledge of the process –stakeholders’ input to ensure that all information has been gathered and the workflow it is clear and there is a consistent on both the process improvement opportunity and the direction of the proposed solution.
Understand:  Process variation and capability – Identify potential process variations, small or large, and their possible effects on change implementation.by using Fish bone Methodology.
Select a strategy for continued improvement – Select an implementation strategy and solutions outline the expected results, and identify success criteria using the information gathered from the above steps as input.PDCA – Implementing the Solution. 
Once the FOCUS process has identified the area for improvement, brought together a team, and found the best possible solution, it is time to implement that solution. 
The PDCA portion of the tool identifies the process to successfully implement the changes and verify that the desired result has been achieved.
Plan – Create an action plan for implementation, including a list of required steps, the implementation schedule, ownership, and responsibilities, and desired outcomes and period.
Do – this part of Start implementing the plan, following the Plan steps, and adhering to the schedule to stay on track.
Check – Take measurements against the success criteria set when selecting the strategy to ensure the implementation is progressing, as it should be. Using key performance indicator.
Act – Based on Check results, determine the process was successfully changed; or return to the beginning of the cycle if it did not meet goals. And sustained the success
A Practical Application: although developed specifically for healthcare, the FOCUS PDCA tool covers all the basic components needed for improvement in any business process, and over the past 12 years, Consulting has successfully applied lean process management concepts in healthcare, energy, and financial services.

Author(s): Fatima Yousef  Ali Ghethan

Abstract | PDF

Share This Article