Process Improvement in Health Systems

Process and Quality improvement in healthcare using the Model for Improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and Person-centred improvement sciences. Enabling you to practice at the level of a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt within the Health System.

Internationally, many healthcare organisations are successfully using process and quality improvement methodologies to streamline processes, reduce cost, and most importantly improve the quality, experience of, and timely delivery of services to patients. When applied rigorously and throughout an entire healthcare organisation, improvement methodologies can have a positive impact on patients, their relatives, and staff. Although many improvement methodologies were developed in industry, health care is, in fact, a service industry, delivering care in extraordinarily complex organisations, with thousands of interacting processes. Many aspects of improvement methodologies, therefore, can and do apply to the processes of delivering care. Graduates of this programme have applied their learning successfully to improve experiences and outcomes for staff and patients in areas as diverse as Stroke Thrombolysis, Stroke Therapy, Patient Scheduling, Procurement, Data coding, ward, and unit design, Rehabilitation, Hip Fracture Pathways, Pharmacy, Pathology, Radiology, Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Oncology, and Community Health.

Indicative learning outcomes: on completion the student will be able to:

• Lead on process and quality improvement initiatives as an engaged and informed process improvement practitioner.
• Demonstrate and teach process improvement principles, methods, and tools to optimise care delivery and support processes.
• Utilise advanced improvement methodologies and tools to optimise care delivery and support processes.
• Be a skilled practitioner of implementation science and researching change in their own organisation.
• Carry out healthcare research to support and underpin organisational process and quality improvement projects.
• Manage complex healthcare processes.
• Evidence knowledge and understanding of problem-solving principles, tools and techniques to deliver project outcomes.
• Demonstrate the ability to analyse and draw conclusions from data using analytical and statistical techniques.
• Demonstrate, through developing and leading a solo project understanding of the effectiveness of the process improvement methodology in healthcare.
• Deliver Value Add for patients, staff, and customers.
• Demonstrate the ability to overcome resistance to change in an organisation through effective communication with and influencing of key stakeholders utilising innovative and robust approaches to process improvement.

If you are not a UCD student and have not applied previously, you must register before using the system for the first time. You'll find step-by-step instructions on how to apply in our instructions for applicants [pdf] and video tutorial.

If you have already registered you can return to the secure system using the login details you registered with. If you are a current or previous UCD student, please use your UCD student number (the system will pre-populate your personal details and you will not be requested to send transcripts).

Due to essential maintenance work, the service may be disrupted, or unavailable entirely, from time to time. Please be patient during these times. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Details of upcoming scheduled maintenance windows, if any, will appear on the right.