Dr. John Haughom explains 5 key Deming processes that can be applied to healthcare process improvement. These include 1) quality improvement as the science of process management, 2) if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it, 3) managed care means managing the processes of care (not managing physicians and nurses), 4) the importance of the right data in the right format at the right time in the right hands, and 5) engaging the “smart cogs” of healthcare.

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© 2014 Health Catalyst
www.healthcatalyst.com
Proprietary. Feel free to share but we would appreciate a Health Catalyst citation.
Five Deming Principles That Help
Healthcare Process Improvement
By John Haughom, MD

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Quality improvement is the
science of process management
2
Deming’s quality control methods based on one simple concept –
Quality improvement is really about process management.
Pareto’s principle says improving 20% of ongoing processes will
impact the overall system by 80%.
Top Five
DEMING
PRINCIPLES
1

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If you cannot measure it…
you cannot improve it.
3
Meaningful quality improvement must be data-driven.
Top Five
DEMING
PRINCIPLES
2
’’
In God we trust…and all others must bring data.
– William Edwards Deming

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Managed care means managing the processes
of care, not managing physicians and nurses
4
Engage clinicians in the process because they understand the care
delivery process and are best equipped to figure out how to
improve the process of care over time. .
Top Five
DEMING
PRINCIPLES
3

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The right data in the right format at
the right time in the right hands
5
If clinicians are going to manage care, they need the right data
delivered in the right format at the right time and in the right place.
And delivered into the right hands, they can operate and improve
any given process of care.
Top Five
DEMING
PRINCIPLES
4

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Engaging the “smart cogs” of
healthcare
6
To use Deming’s term, clinicians are healthcare’s “smart cogs.”
They are the frontline workers who understand and own the
processes of care.
Our healthcare clinicians are extraordinarily committed, very
intelligent, and highly educated.
Top Five
DEMING
PRINCIPLES
5

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Are Physicians Willing to Change?
7
A physician leader wrote in a recent email that his staff of
physicians were , “historically encumbered and demoralized.”
The statement reveals the problem and points us to the solution.
84%
Willing
16%
Unwilling
Physician Willingness to Change
Source: McKinsey Physician Survey, 2011
Applying Deming principles to
healthcare can show
• why change is necessary
• how to participate in
meaningful change
• what success will ultimately
look like.
Read more about the best way to measure clinical quality improvement
projects or see the way to overcome clinical data problems.

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Other Clinical Quality Improvement Resources
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John Haughom, MD is an experienced healthcare executive with proven
expertise in technology-enabled innovation, developing results-oriented strategic
plans, leading multifaceted organization-wide change, and directing complex
operations. He has a strong record of turning vision into effective strategies and
successfully implementing initiatives resulting in value including higher
quality, safer care at the lowest possible cost. His broad knowledge of healthcare
and
emerging healthcare technologies is coupled with his recognized leadership abilities, strong
communication skills, and demonstrated ability to contribute to organizational goals such as
improved clinical outcomes, lower costs, improved access to care, and increased profitability.
After practicing for 15 years as an internist and gastroenterologist, Dr. Haughom assumed a
senior executive role with responsibilities for system-wide automation, budgeting, customer
support, database administration, healthcare delivery, information technology, quality
control, research, safety, and strategic planning. Dr. Haughom became President and CEO of a
firm focused on health care transformation through consulting, strategic planning, mentoring
inexperienced physician leaders, involvement in regional and national reform
movements, membership on boards of leading edge organizations committed to improving the
value of healthcare, and partnership with other like-minded organizations with similar
aspirations and goals. As Senior Vice President of Clinical Quality and Patient Safety for the
premiere health care system in the Northwest spanning three states (Oregon, Washington and
Alaska), Dr. Haughom developed and implemented a system-wide quality improvement
strategy, comprehensive patient safety plan, and comprehensive system-wide information
technology strategy.