PDCA is a management method that guides continuous process improvement. In healthcare, it is essential for efficiency and productivity in hospitals, clinics, diagnostic imaging centers, and laboratories. By applying this tool, it becomes possible to identify recurring failures, eliminate waste, and improve clinical and administrative performance.
In practice, the PDCA cycle in healthcare allows routines such as medication management, length of stay, or inventory control for supplies to be reviewed. Each stage of the cycle—Plan, Do, Check, and Act—supports decision-making based on real data and clear targets.
Unlike one-off initiatives, the PDCA cycle in healthcare promotes consistency, as it facilitates alignment among sectors, reduces rework, and builds a results-oriented culture with a focus on operational efficiency.
In this article, learn how to apply PDCA in healthcare and the impact of each stage of the cycle on institutional processes. See also how to incorporate this methodology. Enjoy reading!
What is PDCA in healthcare?
PDCA in healthcare is a cyclical management method that promotes the continuous improvement of activities in hospitals, clinics, and laboratories.
Composed of four stages—Plan (Plan), Do (Do), Check (Check), and Act (Act)—the cycle identifies failures, implements solutions, and monitors results to maintain agility, safety, and quality in patient care.
This model enables continuous adjustments grounded in concrete data, optimizing the use of resources and standardizing procedures.
What are the advantages of applying PDCA in healthcare?
By applying PDCA in healthcare, institutions in the sector can achieve greater efficiency in their processes. See other benefits:
Clear visibility into process bottlenecks and critical points
By analyzing each stage of planning, it becomes possible to detect resource waste, delays, and the causes behind each bottleneck. From there, teams implement targeted corrective actions and, through ongoing monitoring, workflow becomes more organized over time.
Greater control over goals, timelines, and results
With successive cycles of planning, execution, verification, and corrective action, managers can better track performance indicators and adjust targets as needed. This reduces deviations, improves operational speed, and ensures institutional objectives are met with greater predictability.
Data- and evidence-based decision-making
By collecting and analyzing information in each cycle, managers and professionals identify patterns, trends, and opportunities for improvement, resulting in more effective actions, optimized resources, and higher-quality services.
As a result, operational and strategic decisions become more consistent and generate more lasting impacts. In practice, day-to-day management shifts from “putting out fires” to managing in a more proactive and less reactive way.
Easier replication of processes that work
By testing and validating improvements in a continuous cycle, institutions can structure effective protocols and adapt them to different sectors, reducing process variation, improving result predictability, and increasing protection in care delivery.
Reduced rework and more efficient use of resources
With precise analysis and adjustments, waste of time, supplies, and effort is avoided, enabling more efficient use of resources and optimizing teams and available materials.
As a result, service excellence improves and management becomes more sustainable.
How to apply each PDCA stage in healthcare
By applying the PDCA method, healthcare institutions achieve greater productivity and longer-term solutions.
As an example, we will use the objective of optimizing patient care:
Plan: identify problems and define realistic goals
In the planning stage (Plan), the first step is to identify problems that affect quality of care. To do so, you should analyze the activities that make up the process, talk with staff and patients, and also verify how competitor institutions operate.
Based on this information, an action plan should be developed, along with realistic and measurable targets aligned with the institution’s reality.
Do: implement actions with a focus on standardization
In the execution stage (Do), planned actions are applied with a focus on standardizing activities, always observing the indicators defined in the previous stage.
Execution should follow what was planned as closely as possible, although we know unforeseen events can occur. However, these situations are opportunities to create customizable processes, granting autonomy to staff.
An example is when the care system presents a certain issue. Based on it, actions should be defined for that incident. If it happens again, the team will already know how to act independently, bringing greater agility to processes and affecting the patient journey as little as possible.
The adoption of checklists and other digital tools is essential for tasks to be carried out with precision and quality.
Check: monitor results and collect data
In the checking stage (Check), it is essential to monitor indicators and targets, and also to talk with staff to better understand the challenges of the example being addressed—customer-service (patient-care) processes.
Comparing obtained results with established targets makes it possible to identify deviations and opportunities for improvement. Combined with this, the review of these metrics ensures adjustments in processes and continuous improvement.
It is also important to reinforce that, during the checking process, other measures may be necessary, such as adopting new work tools or making changes within teams.
Here, we can clearly see an important advantage of applying the PDCA cycle in healthcare: data-driven decision-making. In this way, managers will have the necessary foundation to make the changes they deem relevant.
Act: adjust failures and consolidate improvements
In the acting stage (Act), the information collected is analyzed to adjust identified failures and correct deviations in processes.
Once again, it is essential to align staff regarding these changes and keep in mind that, even when tasks are being adjusted, new challenges may arise. That is why the tool is a cycle: when the last stage is completed, we always return to the first.
Applying PDCA in healthcare improves processes and ensures quality in care delivery. In this process, ensuring knowledge transfer—even in the face of staff turnover—is essential to ensure a good patient experience.
About Pixeon
Pixeon is the company with the largest software portfolio for the healthcare market.
Our solutions serve hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and diagnostic imaging centers, covering both management (HIS, CIS, RIS, and LIS) and diagnostic processes (PACS and Laboratory Interface), ensuring high performance and top-tier management in healthcare institutions.
The HIS/CIS software for hospitals and clinics, Pixeon Smart, is a complete solution that integrates the entire institution into a single system. It is also certified with the highest level of digital maturity by SBIS (Brazilian Society of Health Informatics).
We already have over 3,000 clients in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Colombia, serving millions of patients annually through our platforms.
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