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Standard, routine and non‐routine processes in health care

Paul Lillrank (Paul Lillrank is Professor, Quality Management Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki, Finland.)
Matti Liukko (Matti Liukko is Director, Health and Welfare, The Finnish Association of Local and Regional Authorities, Helsinki, Finland.)

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance

ISSN: 0952-6862

Article publication date: 1 January 2004

2685

Abstract

Quality management methods have been introduced into health care with variable success. Industrial approaches, such as standardization, are not always applicable professional services, because of fundamental differences in conceptions of aims and the predictability of the results of action. Processes in health care can be classified into standard, routine and non‐routine depending on the level of repetition and amount of variation, variety and uncertainty. Quality problems are different in each type: standard processes may produce deviations from targets, routines errors in classification, and non‐routines failures in interpretation. Different management approaches for each type are discussed. A metaphor to assist discussion, The Broom, is introduced.

Keywords

Citation

Lillrank, P. and Liukko, M. (2004), "Standard, routine and non‐routine processes in health care", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526860410515927

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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