Continuous quality improvement has been used to help organizations become more effective. Improvement activities are based upon a continuous process that includes regulatory requirements, patient satisfaction, clinical and functional outcomes, and cost. This chapter discussed the application and implementation of quality improvement activities that are incorporated into health care environments.

Health care Quality Improvement (QI) is a structural process that is used to plan and improve outcomes based upon customer needs originally adapted from other industries. The author describes five quality principles used in the process as follows:
1. the priority is to benefit internal and external customers
2. participation is needed throughout an organization
3. work process is used to identify improvement opportunities
4. change is based upon data
5. quality improvement is a constant process

Two methodologies for quality improvement are studied including Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) and FOCUS. These methodologies provide a step by step process guiding the improvement process to ensure it is organized and stays on track.

Additional improvement strategies are discussed involving benchmarking regulatory requirements and sentinel event review. Balanced scorecards and storyboards are detailed demonstrating how to measure and report progress made towards specific goals. Several types of helpful charts to examine and analyze data are reviewed. For example, time series charts, Pareto charts, histograms, fishbone diagrams, pie and flow charts, and check sheets.