Healthcare Problem Solving Tools

Name: Healthcare Problem Solving Tools
Rating: 4.8 (143 reviews)

Problem solving in healthcare, Brainstorming, flowcharts, prioritization matrix, decision making in healthcare

Created byMohammed Basha, MSc, PhD

Last updated 10/2025

English

What you'll learn

Problem solving
Better decision making
Brainstorming
Drawing processes
Prioritizing problems and resources
Understanding root cause analysis

Course content

2 sections • 11 lectures • 1h 50m total length

Introduction2:19
This introductory video explains what to expect after going through the course on healthcare problem-solving.
Personal reflection

Where to go? How to define a problem6:46
After finishing this lecture, you will be able to:

Recognize the importance of clear problem statements
Understand how to clearly define both the outcome and boundaries of a problem
What are the causes? Brainstorming5:54
After finishing this lecture, you will be able to:
Understand the role of brainstorming as a tool
Know how to run a brainstorming session whether as a facilitator or a team member
Brainstorming practice example12:04
Lecture 4b: Brainstorming practice example 2 _ Reasons for delayed schedule19:32
Another example on exercising brainstorming sessions in healthcare context. A team of four professionals hold a brainstorming session to explore probable causes of delayed scheduling of surgery patients. The team lead by a facilitator; Ms. Sandy, go through the three phases of brainstorming to agree on a list of probable causes.
Brainstorming review
Let's do some dissection? Flowchart10:24
After finishing this lecture, you will be able to:
Recognize the importance of flowcharts in understanding processes
Learn the common symbols used in flowcharts
learn how to draw a flowchart of a process step by step
Flowchart review
What is the truth behind? Root cause analysis - basics12:25
After you finish this lecture, you will learn:
The principles behind root cause analysis
Different models of safety
Implementing safety models in healthcare
Root cause analysis review
Let's think deep? Fishbone Diagram9:56
In this lecture, we discuss fishbone diagram as a tool in root-cause analysis.
After you finish this lecture, you will be able to:
Understand the logic behind fishbone diagram in problem analysis
Practice the fishbone as a significant tool in problem analysis
Fishbone diagram review
What to choose? Pareto chart14:48
After you finish this lecture, you will be able to:
Understand the Pareto principle
Know how to implement Pareto principle in prioritization
Pareto chart review
Let's decide! Prioritization matrix11:14
After you finish this lecture, you will be able to:
Understand the importance of prioritizing available alternatives to resources
Know how to implement prioritization matrix step by step
Let's decide ! Prioritization matrix review
Putting it all together2:33
This lecture is a sum up of the core principles discussed in the course

Requirements

None

Description

This course, a part of the series: Essentials for Healthcare Professionals, is designed to equip you with practical problem-solving tools for everyday challenges in healthcare. The series aims to build a common problem-solving knowledge base for healthcare professionals, regardless of their specific roles. The course is equally essential for any healthcare professional and does not require any previous experience in problem-solving skills. It smoothly engages you in a logical flow of how to analyse and find solutions for different challenges you might face in your daily practice, with the help of practical exercises that will prepare you for real-world situations.

The course starts by shedding light on the most critical factor in solving any problem - that is, problem definition. Many problems we face do not have a clear description or boundaries to address. This is a primary reason for avoiding problems without effectively addressing them. After having a clear definition of the problem, we conduct its analysis. Understanding why a problem occurred is, in the first place, the right place to start solving it.

After understanding the reasons, it comes down to finding innovative solutions or options for our problem. Different methods are used; however, exemplary standard tools are explained along with practical exercises. Upon seeing other possibilities for solving a problem or improving a current process, we need to have a tool help us decide among them. Here comes the importance of a prioritisation matrix, a tool that [brief explanation of the prioritisation matrix], in converting our subjective feedback into easily understandable numbers to choose from.

Who this course is for:

Healthcare professionals
Physicians
Paramedics
Nurses
Healthcare operational professionals

Healthcare Problem Solving Tools

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 2min

Approach to problem solving using quality tools10 lectures • 1hr 46min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: