This research develops a methodology for making process improvements that can sustain over time. Working with caregivers at a large U.S. hospital over 3 years, we redesign a process for educating kidney transplant patients with instructions for post‐surgical care. Adopting an intervention‐based research (IBR) framework and based on our actions to overcome challenges in implementation and sustainment of the redesign, we revise the current understanding of organizational learning theory. Follow‐up observations after our intervention show that the process improvements at the hospital are sustained. We supplement the IBR with quantitative analyses and provide evidence of improvements in health outcomes and satisfaction levels of patients associated with the redesign. These analyses are based on difference‐in‐difference estimations using data from transplant patients, including a control group from other transplant units. Overall, our research specifies a methodology for implementing sustainable process improvements, particularly in high interaction service environments such as healthcare delivery, and identifies refinements to organizational learning theory, especially for such environments.

中文翻译：

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可持续过程改进：基于干预研究的证据

这项研究开发了一种可以持续进行的过程改进方法。我们与美国一家大型医院的看护人合作了3年，我们重新设计了一种对肾脏移植患者进行手术后护理指导的流程。通过采用基于干预的研究（IBR）框架，并基于我们为克服重新设计的实施和维持中的挑战而采取的行动，我们修订了对组织学习理论的当前理解。我们进行干预后的后续观察表明，医院的流程改进得以持续。我们通过定量分析补充IBR，并提供与重新设计相关的患者健康结局和满意度水平改善的证据。这些分析基于差值估计，这些差值使用移植患者（包括来自其他移植单位的对照组）的数据进行估计。总体而言，我们的研究指定了一种用于实现可持续过程改进的方法，尤其是在诸如医疗保健交付之类的高交互服务环境中，并确定了对组织学习理论的改进，尤其是针对此类环境。