Excerpt from Term Paper :

Management and Control of Quality

The HMO pharmacy crisis

One has to understand the role played by the science of statistics in managerial decision-making. It is vital that managers think statistically in order for them to understand the processes, which would offer the context to determine variation effects and proper managerial actions. Looking at work as a process, a manager can apply the tools of statistics to identify consistent, predictable processes. Armed with such information or knowledge they would be able to study and improve upon the processes. Variation does occur everywhere, but many business decisions fail to account for variation. It is vital that one understand the variation nature for them to concentrate on reducing variation.

Dover was able to pick up some solid statistical thinking when he attended the "Statistical Thinking for Continuous Improvement" course offered to all employees of the organization. From the course, he also received a better understanding of statistical methods and tools, which he can employ to the situation facing the organization. It should be made clear that all managers and employees should be thinking statistically if they are going to fix the issue of inaccurate prescriptions. The burden should not be left to Dover alone. HMPs employ or contract different health organization and physicians it is vital that establishment of the root cause include all sources and individuals. Blame has been placed upon Mr. Pacotilla, which is quite wrong because he is not the only manager handling employees within the HMO. Pacotilla is blamed because he is in charge of pharmacy employees, and the HMO believes the inaccurate prescription errors occur because the pharmacy employees are mistaking the prescriptions.

Dover should start by doing a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis will give Dover the opportunity to critically analyze the situation and identify the loopholes within the system. Dover having undergone the course is a strength for the pharmacy. The case has indicated that Dover completed the course, but it has become apparent that he needs to submit a project for him to satisfy the requirements of the course. Dover has the perfect improvement project that he can use, and this would serve two purposes. One he would finalize on his course and secondly he would assist the pharmacy to improve and find a solution. Pacotilla is willing to accept Dover's assistance and suggestions, which is another strength. Dover been a pharmacy assistant means that he is at the pharmacy most of the time, and he understands the daily operations of the pharmacy. Pacotilla is only a manager, and he is rarely at the pharmacy only relying upon his employees to deliver. Dover and the manager can use the statistical course to push the HMO also to begin thinking statistically. The HMO has demonstrated that it understands the importance of statistics in decision-making. Dover could encourage the HMO to give them more time to identify the loopholes and suggest a solution to the problem.

It is clear that the main weakness facing the pharmacy is dispensing of inaccurate prescriptions. This is negatively affecting the pharmacy, and its reputation depends on how well it prescribes medications. There are various people involved in the chain, and the errors could be taking place at any point in the system. The pharmacy is easily blamed since the errors are only identified at this end. There is a blame game that takes place with pharmacists accusing doctors of poor handwriting and incomplete instructions, while the doctors blame the pharmacists who perform data entry. The blame game has resulted in more errors taking place, and the dispensing of drugs inaccurately could have devastating effects.

The other weakness is the time given to solve the problem. It is not clear on the amount time left. Pacotilla was only give until next month to have sorted out the issue or be sacked. With such a short timeframe, the manager is pressurized to identify a solution. Dover is also pressurized because he has to work within the given timeframe to find a solution. The best approach to tackle this would be to convince the HMO for more time. Dover should develop a timeline indicating the steps to be taken...

Using the knowledge, he has received after attending the course, Dover is better placed to identify where the errors take place and propose solutions that would mitigate against these errors in the future. The HMO should also recognize that there are more people involved in filling a prescription and not just the pharmacy. Accepting the fact that the pharmacy only prescribes the indicated dosages, the HMO can see clearly that the pharmacy cannot be solely blamed for the errors. The people outside the pharmacy must also be held accountable to determine where the variation occurs.

The pharmacy is facing threats of lawsuits and patient complaints. The HMO is trying to eliminate the liability from itself and to point the accusing finger to the managers. This way in case of any legal action, it can pass the blame to the managers. It is for this reason that the HMO is threatening Pacotilla with firing. Using this tactic might work towards finding a solution, but it has some negative effects on the employees. There will forever be a blame game occurring, and not one would be willing to accept responsibility for any errors.

Applying quality function deployment to a university support service

1.

The relative importance score does depend on the different situations that the RRC faces. Considering that the RRC receives various requests for work one can see that the scoring is correct. Customers with small jobs that can be performed quickly would prefer to receive prompt service. This does make sense especially because the small jobs would not take much time of the RRC staff. There are also duplicate jobs that the staff have performed previously, such kind of jobs would be easily performed, and the customers would not be willing to leave their work. Therefore, they are going to wait for their jobs at the center. All customers expect that their work will be accurately done with no errors. This is quite vital for the satisfaction of the customers. Reliability is a primary concern for the customers. Jobs that short timelines and require prompt service should also be treated with the same concern as the others. No job should be taken for granted because it is repetitive or small.

Research jobs require specific information, and the students would request the services of certain employees. The employee would have to search for the required information in order to complete the research question. The employees should also be able to offer assurance to the customer that their job would be completed in time. The employees should be able to convey trust to the customer, which would ensure the customer could comfortably trust then with their work. Returning customers have a preference for particular employees and they prefer to interact with them instead of the interns. This does demonstrate the students have trust and can rely on the specific employee. The inexperienced students should be given high priority because RRC needs to build trust and show them empathy. The willingness of the employees to assist the new students is vital for future business.

2.

Focusing on the four main characteristics, the weighted scores can be calculated as follows:

Resources

Information handling

87

Customer handling

68

Attitudes and morale

68

The analysts focused on three main areas namely resource personnel, documents handling, and information handling. These three areas were deemed to have vital design issues that relate to customer perception in terms of service quality. Document handling was seen to be a vital area for improvement. The current method used for handling documents is wanting, and the weighted scores do not support the need for a new document handling process. In terms of customer quality, document handling is not vital, since it occurs after the customer has submitted their work. There have only been rare cases when a customer's job has not been completed on time. Considering this fact one can see that document handling is only vital in ensuring that all the documents received are given the priority required, and is only helpful within RRC.

Customer handling has a high score, and this demonstrates its importance to RRC. The employees are dependent on the customers and how they handle each customer would ensure they receive repeat business. The focus for improvements should be geared towards the customers. The other proposed improvement of layout would not have an impact on how the customers are handled. The layout change would only make the work area different, but it would not have an impact on customer quality criteria. Therefore, the improvements should be focused on ways to change employee attitudes, and training. Training is vital as it ensures that the…