Rejoinder - William H. Woodall

摘要

I appreciate the insightful comments from the distinguished and knowledgeable group of discussants. I will address some of the issues that were raised. First, I agree wholeheartedly with the comment of Dr. Steiner that there often exist much more effective methods for process improvement than the use of control charts. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (see http://www.ihi.org/ihi) actively promotes many of the more proactive approaches to improvement. There is a danger of an over-proliferation of control charts in healthcare, similar to what happened in U. S. industry in the early 1980s. I do feel, however, that control charts can serve very useful, roles in process characterization and in monitoring efforts, such as those required in Six Sigma improvement projects.