title: Measuring for improvement.
abstract: This is the fourth in a series of articles about the science of quality improvement. We examine what to measure, how to measure and some important measurement techniques, such as run charts, control charts and funnel plots. These help us to understand healthcare processes, to assess whether they are stable or improving and to determine how they can be improved further.
authors.affiliation: Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU), University of Lincoln, UK. nsiriwardena@lincoln.ac.uk.
authors.forename: A Niroshan
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Siriwardena
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gillam
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results