Using PBCs to Evaluate Changes in PSA Levels

Here is a journal article that was co-authored by Donald J. Wheeler, PhD and Albert Pfadt:

Single Subject Studies in Prostate Cancer: How graphing PSA test results and testosterone levels using Process Behavior and Celeration Charts can provide insight and guide clinical decisions

From the abstract:

Process Behavior Charts and Celeration Charts provide effective ways to visualize the clinical status of a patient with prostate cancer and to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments. Process Behavior Charts allow a definitive answer to the question of whether a change has occurred in spite of the variability of the PSA values, and when changes are occurring the Celeration Chart provides an easy estimate of the rate of growth. Both of these graphic techniques help in the overall understanding of the status of a patient at risk for prostate cancer by placing current PSA values in the context of the history of that patient.”

Here is a Process Behavior Chart from the article… I’ve stitched together the “baseline” chart that illustrates the calculated Natural Process Limits and the next two weeks that show “signals” (seeing data points above the upper limit). In the baseline chart, PSA was just fluctuating around an average (we could call this “noise”).

It seems like this would be helpful analysis of clinical data.

“ER wait times down, but only slightly” or ER wait times are virtually the same?

Here is an “X Chart” (part of the Process Behavior Chart methodology) looking at emergency department patient waiting times. See the original blog post.

See the entire blog post at LeanBlog.org:

“ER wait times down, but only slightly” or ER wait times are virtually the same?

 

Context and a “Process Behavior Chart” Instead of Two Data Points: Reshoring Statistics

Read the original blog post

Somebody at A.T. Kearney sent me a link to their recent report on reshoring, with the headline:

Reshoring in Reverse Again
US manufacturers are not exactly coming back in droves. In fact, the 2018 Reshoring Index shows that imports from traditional offshoring countries are at a record high.

Long story short, I created this chart:

Read the original blog post

Context and a “Process Behavior Chart” Instead of Two Data Points: Reshoring Statistics