Whole Systems Approaches to Process Improvement in Health Systems

Dear Colleagues, 

There is currently a disconnect between innovative approaches to transforming the experience of care and service delivery, on the one hand, and improvement-based methods that focus on efficiency and clinical outcomes, on the other. All healthcare systems are required to use finite resources with greater efficiency. Combined with a focus on patients’ clinical outcomes, this tends to favour process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma. There is also an increasing emphasis on improving staff and patient experiences using person-centred approaches to change. Furthermore, it is increasingly recognised that the success and sustainability of these methodologies, alone or in combination, require close attention to the impact of the structures and processes of organisational systems on their design and implementation. The papers in this supplement locate process improvement methodologies within whole systems frameworks, such as those of Oshry, Deming and Senge. The focus is on how and in what ways an appreciation of systems, when applied to the design and implementation of process improvement initiatives across a range of clinical contexts, can contribute to improvements in the staff and patient experience of providing and receiving care, and in clinical outcomes. 

We invite papers that demonstrate how process improvement initiatives take account of organizational structures and processes to enable innovation, productive partnerships and successful and sustainable improvement in health systems. 

Prof. Dr. Martin McNamara
Dr. Marie E. Ward
Dr. Seán Paul Teeling
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.