Medical Staff

Steps for healthcare leaders to reduce variation in care

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, February 14, 2011

The American Hospital Association (AHA) this month released “Health Care Leader Action Guide: Understanding and Managing Variation,” a report calling on hospital leaders to intervene to reduce variations in care.

Acknowledging that “…not all variation is undesirable or inappropriate,” the AHA guide provides steps to understanding differences in care.

AHA recommends taking the following steps to understand variation:

  • Determine your strategic focus to reducing variation
  • Set measurable goals
  • Acquire and analyze data
  • Understand your data
  • Identify areas of focus
  • Implement improvements

AHA provides the following guidelines to implement:

  1. Provide feedback of performance data at the provider level
  2. Standardize processes of care by using checklists and other clinical and operational protocols
  3. Implement evidence-based guidelines and pathways
  4. Utilize evidence-based appropriateness criteria
  5. Use quality improvement interventions, such as Lean, Toyota Production System, Six Sigma, Plan-Do-Study-Act
  6. Initiate culture change toward safety, improvement, transparency, and excellence

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