Predictive quality
Quality Management
Definition. Predictive quality is the use of data and predictive models to anticipate quality and safety problems before they occur, so that action can be taken in advance.
Explanation
The concept comes from manufacturing, where machine learning and deep learning predict product quality during production (Tercan & Meisen, 2022). In health care, it extends quality management from retrospective measurement to forward-looking risk estimation, for example of deterioration, readmission or adverse events.
Its success depends on data quality, validation and integration into decision-making rather than on algorithms alone.
Related concepts
Machine learning Quality indicator Learning health system Hospital readmission
Read on The Health Topics
References
Tercan, H., & Meisen, T. (2022). Machine learning and deep learning based predictive quality in manufacturing: A systematic review. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 33 (7), 1879–1905. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-022-01963-8
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Predictive quality. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/predictive-quality/