Project 4-7 Answer Sheet (2 pages)

Select PI Tools to Use During an Improvement Project

Student Name:

Examples of performance improvement tools

Quantitative Tools Qualitative Tools
• Bar graph • Affinity analysis
• Checksheet • Brainstorming
• Control chart • Cause and effect diagram
• Histogram • Flowchart
• Line graph • Force field analysis
• Pareto chart • Prioritization tools
• Scatter diagram • Workflow diagram
• Stratification

Performance Improvement Tool

Question Why this tool would be useful
(pick only one)
What performance I would use Brainstorming. It would be useful to generate many ideas in a short time as to why there are so many
improvement tool would complaints, and I think it needs to be done as soon as possible.
you use to identify all
possible reasons why
complaints about the HIM
department are increasing?
What performance I would use Cause and Effect It would be useful as a structured brainstorming tool. This is more structured and
improvement tool would diagrams. defined than brainstorming alone. This would be able to show a direct cause for each
you use to gather of the problems and either actual or potential causes. This is a great visual aid in my
information to confirm the opinion, because it combined brainstorming with concrete visual aids to formulate
actual reasons for solutions.
complaints about the HIM
department?
You think there may be I would use Stratification. It would be useful to break down the data into categories to help show what visually
more complaints on certain which days have larger numbers of complaints. If there are certain time periods when
days of the week. What the problem is worse, data can be stratified for those days only, then it can be
performance improvement stratified for certain HIM employees, or maybe other department employees.
tool would you use to
analyze this theory?

1
The HIM employees tally I would use Rapid Cycle It would be useful to: define the performance measures quickly, select the measures
information about types of Improvement. most likely to eliminate the complaints rapidly, and see if the solutions work, or if
complaints about the they have to be redefined. And, people that adapt to change quickly will implement it
(RCI)
department. What first and help the others to follow along, as improvements are seen and analyzed.
performance improvement
tool would you use to
select the complaints to
eliminate first?
What performance I would use a Top-Down Flow chart. It would be useful to show: each step of the process, the waiting time of each area
improvement tool would that has lag time, tasks that are redone, and the back- tracked steps. I think this
you use to understand the combines the visualization of the process, and the brainstorming style of detailing to
current process for have a better picture of what is really going on.
retrieving patient records?
After redesigning the I would use a Line Graph. It would be useful to show a relationship between the past number of complaints and
process for retrieving the current number of complaints, and you can see changes in performance
patient records, you want measurement data over time periods. Several groups of data could be displayed
to monitor the simultaneously.
effectiveness of your
actions. What
performance improvement
tool would you use to
measure whether the
number of complaints
about record retrievals
actually decline over the
next six months?