Skip to content

BaseLine – free SPC software for Q Community Members

Read comments 1

BaseLine – free SPC software for Q Community Members

The use of time-series charts for visualising health care data is growing in popularity because it helps to better understand the complex behaviours of a complicated system.  Statistical process control (SPC) is a method borrowed from manufacturing that uses time-series charts as a quality control (QC) tool for monitoring the quality performance of a process.  Our needs in healthcare are broader because we also need to use time-series data for diagnosis, design and deciding what changes to deliver.  So we need to evolve and improve our SPC tools to be more fit-for-purpose.  BaseLine uses the most commonly used SPC chart – the XmR chart – and adds innovative features to improve its use as a diagnostic and design tool.  These include segmentation, rational grouping, annotation and cluster analysis.  BaseLine was the software recommended by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and there are still 100’s of active users in the NHS, so to support the spread of time-series visualisation in the NHS, BaseLine has been made available, free-of-charge, to all Q Community members.  A step-by-step guide of how to obtain, install and activate an individual copy of BaseLine is attached. The software is still under active development and is co-evolving to better meet the needs of users, so any and all feedback from Q Community users will help to accelerate that co-production process.

Discussion (1)

Leave a Reply

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked *