ASQ Quality Press

HALT, HASS, and HASA explained; accelerated reliability techniques, rev.ed.

While working at a large computer company, McLean discovered how the customer's field experience with defective products could be mimicked in-house, a substantial improvement over conventional quality assurance approaches. For both novices and veterans in quality, he explains HALT, a process for the ruggedization of pre-production products; HASS the production screen for products characterized by HALT; and HASA, a production audit. All three use very high rate of change temperature chambers, combined with multi-axis pneumatic vibration systems. These can be employed, and combined with other stresses, in whatever manner an operator thinks best represents what the product will undergo once it is in the big bad world. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Journey to excellence; how Baldrige health care leaders succeed.

Based on a study of nine health care organizations that have received the Baldrige Award since 2002, this book, by experienced Baldrige examiners and judges, reveals the award winners' processes for enterprise management, yielding insights that health care leaders at all levels will be able to apply to their own organizations. The book identifies five stages of the winning organizations' improvement process, and identifies critical activities that supported progress on the journey, in areas such as leadership, assessment, and results. Side bars illustrate best practices, and chapter key points are included. Material is based on interviews with leaders of the winning organizations, analysis of the winners' award applications, presentations at national and regional meetings, and other publications by or about them. The book is not a Baldrige educational manual, nor is it a how-to book about the Baldrige process, although it includes practical information about the successful use of the Baldrige Criteria for health care. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A practical field guide for ISO 9001:2008.

In this guide to organizations implementing a quality management system (QMS) in conformance with ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001:2008, Myhrberg (senior member, American Society for Quality) succinctly identifies the documentation required, the questions auditors need to ask, and management responsibilities. Flowcharts with explanations show the process to implement a QMS step-by-step either from scratch or in transitioning from ISO 9001:2000. The spiral-bound guide includes a summary table of ISO 9001:2008 documented requirements by section, the revisions to ISO 9001:2000, resources, and information on ASQ membership. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Process driven comprehensive auditing; a new way to conduct ISO 9001:2008 internal audits, 2d ed. (CD-ROM included)

American quality professional Palmes describes an easy method for conducting an effective quality audit that can be use by novice or experienced internal auditors, especially the many that were conscripted into quality from their real work without adequate — sometimes any — training or experience. He explains the overall process, breaks it down into stages and strands, then shows how it all flows together to close the auditing cycle. The final chapter details how to integrate ISO specifics into the audit. The disk contains the audit template. No date is mentioned for the first edition. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The public health quality improvement handbook.

Bialek, president and CEO of the Public Health Foundation, gathers together physicians, practitioners, academics, consultants, and researchers in the public health community for this collection of quality improvement (QI) examples, case studies, tools, and techniques. Both the strategic and the operational perspectives are covered, along with developing the conditions to make QI thrive, involving community stakeholders, measuring results, and tying QI to accreditation and national and state quality awards. Many of the book's chapters describe approaches to overcoming barriers and successfully engaging public health staff in meaningful QI efforts. Several chapters describe how QI can help public health departments work effectively to meet heightened need in these uncertain fiscal times. Other chapters, on areas such as data management and basic statistics, provide strategic wisdom related to the management of the public health organization. Basic and advanced QI tools are introduced with real-life examples. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Solutions to the healthcare quality crisis; cases and examples of lean six sigma in healthcare.

Bisgaard (U. of Massachusetts and U. of Amsterdam) presents a selection of 13 articles originally published in two ASQ journals, Quality Progress and Six Sigma Forum Magazine, over the past few years. Written by 36 European and American healthcare professionals, the articles describe the use of quality management principles and the tools of Lean Six Sigma in varied healthcare settings. Coverage includes an overview of Lean Six Sigma's key concepts and terminology; six articles of a general nature written by health professionals engaged in quality improvement, telling how they achieved their results and what they learned; seven detailed cases describing specific applications of Lean Six Sigma to healthcare; and a discussion of lessons learned and future directions. For healthcare professionals with no previous background, knowledge or experience with Lean Six Sigma, politicians, policy analysts, government officials, and concerned citizens interested in healthcare quality. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)