The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance, Second Edition

INTRODUCTION

THE IMPROVEMENT GUIDE, SECOND EDITION

Because of interest in creating better continuity between patients and providers, a rural health care organization held a meeting to explore ways to increase continuity. (Continuity here means the percentage of times that a patient sees his or her own doctor, as opposed to another provider.) The organization had a small hospital with an emergency room (ER), a drop-in urgent care (UC), and an appointment-based day clinic. The organization for many years used a system of rotating providers through all four services (hospital, ER, UC, and three day-clinics).

At the meeting, one of the new doctors ...