Statistical Process Control for Quality Improvement: making and Using Control Charts

Monday, April 28, 2025

9:15am – 10:45am HST

Location: Convention Center: 321

CE: 1.5

Leader(s)

Munish Gupta, MD MMSc

Neonatologist
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, MA, Massachusetts, United States

Co-Leader(s)

Rebecca Vartanian, MD

Clinical Associate Professor
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Michelle-Marie Peña, MD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Health Equity Medical Director
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Heather Kaplan, MD, MSCE

Professor of Pediatrics
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Michael Posencheg, MD

Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, United States

Disclosure(s):

Munish Gupta, MD MMSc: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Rebecca Vartanian, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Michelle-Marie Peña, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Heather C. Kaplan, MD, MSCE: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Michael Posencheg, MD: Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Ongoing) (Products/Services: Speaker Honorarium including speakers bureau, symposia, and expert witness)

Workshop Description: Statistical process control (SPC) combines mathematical time-based data analysis with graphical data displays, and is widely recognized as an optimal method of data analysis for quality improvement (QI). While the value of SPC in health care has been increasingly recognized, its methods are not routinely taught, and clinical leaders continue to conduct QI projects without the benefit of SPC. In this workshop, we will provide a practical introduction to control charts, the most powerful time-series data analysis tool in SPC. We will briefly review how understanding variation in data is fundamental to QI, and then teach control chart theory and use through an interactive didactic presentation. Using sample data sets, we will make and analyze control charts in large and small group exercises. We will explore principles of equity-focused QI and show how rational subgrouping with control charts can be used to identify inequities and guide improvement efforts. We will finish by showing how control charts can guide a QI initiative. A bibliography, key readings, data sets, and trial SPC software will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own laptops for the hands-on exercises, although participants who are not able to do this will still be able to participate extensively in the workshop.

Learning Objectives:

Design, create, analyze, and interpret control charts
Demonstrate the use of rational subgrouping in equity-focused quality improvement
Apply control charts to a quality improvement initiative