Implementing Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care

This collection of 18 case studies covers a broad range of subjects related to health care quality improvement efforts. Ideal as complement to the new Fourth Edition of Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care, these case studies explore themes such as CQI in Ghana Malaria Control, CQI to reduce central line infections in pediatric hospital, a mother’s advocacy group against medical errors, WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives Campaign, The Malcolm Baldrige Award Process in Health Care, Comparison of NICE and similar agencies for comparative effectiveness research, and much more.

Curtis P. McLaughlin, D.B.A., is professor emeritus and adjunct professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.' At the time of his retirement he was also Professor of Health Policy and Administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and Senior Research Fellow of the Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.' Prior to coming to North Carolina, he was Assistant Professor at the Harvard Business School and also taught in the Harvard School of Public Health.' He is the author or coauthor of'approximately 275 publications, including Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care with A.D. Kaluzny, now in its third edition with Jones & Bartlett. He received his BA in Chemistry from Wesleyan University and his MBA and his DBA from Harvard Business School. While there, he studied and'then taught'in the initial Harvard interdisciplinary program in health care economics and management.

Julie K. Johnson, PhD, MSPH is currently a Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and serves as the Associate Chair of Quality for the Department of Surgery, the Associate Director of the UNC Surgical Health Services (USHER) center, and the'Director'of'Quality'and Implementation, NC Surgical'Quality'Collaborative (NC SURG). In these roles, Dr. Johnson leads and participates in studies to improve quality and safety of patient care within clinical microsystems.'Dr. Johnson’s career interests have involved building a series of collaborative relationships to improve the quality and safety of health care through teaching, research, and clinical improvement. She has a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina and a PhD in evaluative clinical sciences from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.'Since completing her PhD in 2000, Dr. Johnson has focused her research on activities related to quality and safety of patient care and qualitative evaluation of clinical microsystems. She has extensive experience using qualitative research methods as part of implementation research studies.