Statistical Development of Quality in Medicine
Chapter One
Theory of Statistical
Process Control
The most important tool in statistical process control is the control chart.
Shewhart developed the first type of chart during the 1920s. One of
the most commonly used Shewhart charts is the [bar.X] chart. In the following
for illustration, we will use this chart. However, the principles reviewed
may be broadened without much effort to include control charts in
general.
Originally control charts were developed in order to solve industrial
problems. We will start with pharmaceutical examples followed by
applications within the health care sector. The analogies and differences
between industrial and healthcare problems are also discussed.
1.1 STATISTICAL FOUNDATION
OF CONTROL CHARTS
To characterise a process, products produced by the process may be
sampled. A pr ... read full excerpt from Statistical Development of Quality in Medicine ebook
