Essay on Total Quality Management in Healthcare Sector

Over the past decades, the healthcare sector and the provision of medical services have been on the rise due to the emergence of the private sectors, demographic factors, medical tourism and change in the pattern of diseases (Dahlgaard, Pettersen, & Dahlgaard-Park, 2011). The existence of modern and developed techniques, the upsurge in patients safety awareness, stiff competition in the healthcare sector, and the emergence of new competent healthcare providers have influenced the healthcare organizations to improve the efficacy and establish a consumer culture for appropriate coast and quality of care. Therefore, the quality of care is a significant issue in every hospital.

As such, for quality services to be realized in healthcare organizations, the Total Quality management must focus on the following elements: teamwork, the satisfaction of patients, culture and structure of the organization, constant improvement, supportive leadership and management commitment Kaplan, et al., 2010). According to (Mazzocato, Savage, Brommels, Aronsson, & Thor (2010), successful implementation of these factors can lead to better results in the healthcare organizations. These results include patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, advanced quality of service, reduced cost of operation in the healthcare organizations, improved quality of healthcare and performance, and safety of patients (Dahlgaard, Pettersen, & Dahlgaard-Park, 2011). Due to these outcomes, healthcare organizations have seen the need to implement the total quality management.

Out of the six outcomes, the one that would benefit the healthcare organization is the improved healthcare quality and performance. It is because quality improvement enhances the safety and effectiveness of healthcare procedures and performance (Kaplan, et al., 2010). The healthcare organizations may also benefit from this outcome in that the managed healthcare can lower the cost of health benefits with the improvement of quality patient care. This act may result in a competitive healthcare firm. With intense competition, the organization benefits from measuring the patients, physicians and the performance of the institution.

The measure of the organization is based on the satisfaction of the patients, quality of the services, and the effective resource management. Consequently, it is worth noting that the focus on the improved health quality and performance can enable the organization to develop and implement important policies for offering better health care that is appealing to patients. Mazzocato, Savage, Brommels, Aronsson, & Thor (2010) have noted that some of the hospitals have spotted positive aspects of the total quality management. For instance, the care institutions have noted quality improvements, effective competitive advantage, appropriate financial performance and commitment of employee in numerous hospitals and nursing homes.

Besides, improved healthcare quality and performance can benefit clinics and other medical institutions by attracting more patients who would seek medical attention to the organization. This implies that the firm may expand after a short time due to the influx of patients on a daily basis. When this happens, the hospital may be considered one of the best health institution in the region, this makes it receive double financial support from the government and other organizations. This outcome also implies that the firm is concerned with improving the health of the patients. As such, it can absorb competent clinicians and doctors to maintain its standard.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the healthcare sector and the provision of quality services are important elements in total quality management. For total quality to be effective, there has to be teamwork, the satisfaction of patients, culture and structure of the organization, constant improvement, supportive leadership and management commitment. Implementation of these elements can result in patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, advanced quality of service, reduced cost of operation in the healthcare organizations, improved quality of healthcare and performance, and safety of patients. From a personal point of view, the best outcome that can benefit the healthcare organization is the improvement of healthcare quality and performance because it enhances the safety and effectiveness of healthcare procedures.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 2057 Dahlgaard, J. J., Pettersen, J., & Dahlgaard-Park, S. M. (2011). Quality and lean health care: A system for assessing and improving the health of healthcare organisations. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 22(6), 673-689.

Kaplan, H. C., Brady, P. W., Dritz, M. C., Hooper, D. K., Linam, W., Froehle, C. M., & Margolis, P. (2010). (2010). The influence of context on quality improvement success in health care: a systematic review of the literature. , 88(4),. The Milbank Quarterly, 88(4), 500-559.

Mazzocato, P., Savage, C., Brommels, M., Aronsson, H., & Thor, J. (2010). Lean thinking in healthcare: a realist review of the literature. BMJ Quality & Safety, 19(5), 376-382.