title: Managing health care variability to achieve quality care.
abstract: While much has been written about variation and health care, one area that has received little attention is variation within hospitals related to the operations management--which can lead to wasted money and human resources. Two Boston researchers who have been studying this area say that addressing these variations--and using techniques found in other major industries across the country--could give hospitals a new tool in addressing patient safety issues, nursing shortages, cost containment, and overall better quality of care.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Simmons
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001509:Bed Occupancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001900:Boston; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D009874:Operations Research; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review