Monitoring Claim Processing Duration Using Statistical Quality Control

Statistical quality control is an important tool used widely at service provision fields to monitor the overall operation. The significant application of the SPC analysis elements to the operation will make the process more reliable and stable. An important SPC tool is the control charts, which can be used to detect changes in production processes and service delivery with a statistical level of confidence. The study introduces the philosophy and types of control charts, design and performance issues, and provides a review of control chart application in monitoring. Primarily, Shewhart control charts have been described in monitoring clinical services performance, with examples found in duration in which cancer patients were served and infections rate of spreading. It has also been used in monitoring the process of data collection in epidemiologic studies. Most applications describe charting outcome variables, but more examples of control charts applied to input variables are needed. Production systems are the identification of the best statistical model for the common cause of variability, grouping of data, selection of type of control chart, the cost of false alarms and lack of signals and difficulty identifying the special causes when a change is signaled. Nevertheless, carefully constructed control charts are powerful methods in monitoring.