Freeman Richard K
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, St Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2014 Winter;26(4):310-6. doi: 10.1053/j.semtcvs.2014.12.003. Epub 2014 Dec 24.
Process improvement, in its broadest sense, is the analysis of a given set of actions with the aim of elevating quality and reducing costs. The tenets of process improvement have been applied to medicine in increasing frequency for at least the last quarter century including thoracic surgery. This review outlines the theory underlying process improvement, the currently available data sources for process improvement and possible future directions of research.
从最广泛的意义上讲，流程改进是对一组给定的行动进行分析，目的是提高质量和降低成本。至少在过去的四分之一世纪里，流程改进的原则在医学领域的应用频率不断增加，包括胸外科手术。这篇综述概述了流程改进的基础理论、目前可用于流程改进的数据来源以及未来可能的研究方向。
