Quality Improvement Essays (Examples)

Quality Improvement in Healthcare

Nearly all healthcare organizations today are aware of the Quality Improvement (QI) movement and seek to actively instill their businesses with such elements. In fact, the past few decades have shown the QI movement to be the main approach for healthcare organizations to measure performance and engage in lasting changes (Colton, 2000). The foundations of QI reside with its origins which come from multiple arenas: "in systems engineering, as a way of defining production processes; in quantitative analysis, as a methodological approach for collecting and analyzing data; and in organizational behavior, as a way of understanding how QI fits with an organization's structure and management philosophy" (Colton, 2000). QI fundamentally stands as a mode for a healthcare organization to better itself through enhancing the way in which it delivers service and by improving patient outcomes (Colton, 2000). "The U.S. Agency for Healthcare esearch and Quality defines…

In terms of communication within the hospice setting, this might occur by means of communicating with patients and their families to determine whether they experience their care setting in an optimal manner. If this is not the case, strategies are implemented to address the commonly experienced difficulties.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, communication is a vitally important part of any care setting. Patients and their families must feel that they are the recipients of patient-centered care, and that they receive sufficient information to help them through difficult times. It is suggested that the PDSA model will be an effective way to accomplish this, along with process mapping. A logical sequence of steps must first address the underlying reasons behind the lack of effective communication among staff and patients. This can relate to the stress factors and harsh work schedules that practitioners often face. To work in such an emotionally eroding environment makes…

Quality Improvement: "Chick-n-Gravy Dinner Line"

The case study at hand deals with complaints being lodged against a product line, "Chick-n-Gravy Dinners" that are sold within a specific chain of restaurants. Upon initial investigation into the complaints, the firm was able to pinpoint that many of the complaints centered upon five product defects: under-filled packages, a missing item, spills/mixed items, unacceptable taste, and improperly sealed packages. In order to begin to remedy the problem, a selection of dinners was pulled at random and opened, and the results showed that nearly all of the 800 dinners pulled included one or more of the aforementioned quality issues.

In a situation such as this, it becomes apparent that the quality of the product line is not, and has likely never been, the biggest priority for the firm. Instead, quantity, not quality appears to have been the focus. In this case, as nearly the entire…

Furthermore, the VA hospitals are devoted to new research on Parkinson's disease in the development of surgical treatment for late-stage patients for whom medical therapy is no longer effective and development of new medications, which are more effective and have fewer side effects (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2001). In this way the VA's rehabilitation services structure assists in the transition of patients from one level to another level of care.

alanced Scorecard of the VA's Rehabilitation Services

The creation of a balanced scorecard for the rehabilitation services offered by the VA consists of developing metrics, collecting data and analyzing the data in relation to: 1) the learning and growth perspective, 2) the business process perspective, 3) the customer perspective, and 4) the financial perspective. The learning and growth perspective includes employee training and corporate cultural attitudes related to both individual and corporate self-improvement. In the current climate of rapid technological…

org 2010). These tools were selected for their simplicity and ease of use/interpretation, as well as for their established usefulness in similar situations (ihi.org 2010). The FOCUS PDCA method for implement quality improvement changes in the organization will be carried out in the manner that defines the methodology itself, with distinct stages being performed in a cyclical manner that identifies needed changes, makes those changes, evaluates the outcome, and identifies additional changes and refinements to processes as needed (ansom et al. 2008).

Comparisons and Performance Measures

There are a variety of methods that can be utilized to analyze the performance of the implemented changes, and several of them will be specifically implemented to ensure adequate performance by the proposed changes. Comparisons between the yearly annual reports available form the University of Kansas Hospital as well as other less long-term internal measures will be used to determine improvements in efficiency and…

Hartman Industries LLC is a leader in the plastic injection molding industry. Many of the products we produce require precision manufacturing and are used in the medical industry. Hartman offers state-of-the-art innovative design capabilities, best-of-breed quality control systems, and exceptional shipping and handling processes. We manufacture to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 standards and have Six Sigma black belt capability through all stages of the manufacturing process. Our quality management challenge is an artifact of running operations in six domestic and one international location.

Seven distinct programs. Each plant at the seven different locations operates under an extensive quality improvement plan. There is only one type of weak link in the infrastructure, and it is a weakness of omission. There is not an overarching plan that addresses coordination of the quality control programs from plant to plant. Although the quality control programs have developed at the separate sites in…

Nursing Quality Improvement Activities

Providing quality nursing care is the foundation of professional ethics for nurses. Nurses have a moral obligation to not only provide quality care, but to also to constantly strive for excellence in the quality of the care they furnish.

Non-medical prescribing is increasingly being seen as a cost-effective option, quality improvement option by both the U.S. government and professional nursing societies. The employment of potentially dangerous preparations in an array of clinical settings is not without risks, however.

There are other considerations for quality improvement in nursing -- including:

Nursing considerations for prescribed drugs.

Review of practice and practice outcomes.

New nursing standards, and guidelines.

Clinical audits.

Quality improvement is a formal approach to the analysis of performance and systematic efforts to improve it. There are numerous models used.

Main Body

Providing quality nursing care is the foundation of professional ethics for nurses. Nurses have a…

ECMO

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation is a procedure that allows for the oxygenation of a patient through the use of an external machine. Oxygen is required in order to keep a body healthy and alive. The definition of oxygenation is the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream of a patient. If the oxygen level drops below 90% a condition called hypoxemia occurs. Hypoxemia can be very serious and if not addressed within a short period of time can be fatal. Hypoxemia is diagnosed through cyanosis (the skin turning blue). Patients being treated with the EMCO procedure are usually longer-term patients (3-10 days) as compared to the short-term patients who receive a standard cadriopulmonary bypass which is a support that usually only lasts for a number of hours (not days).

Purpose

According to odriguez-Cruz et al. The purpose of the ECMO is "to allow time for intrinsic recovery of the lungs and…

Quality Improvements in Emergency Services

Consumers in the form of patients and other stakeholders are increasingly demanding for proof that the care being delivered or rendered to them is of high quality. In general, the public is cognizant of, demand quality from the medical sector or industry, and anticipates action and improvements to be undertaken when quality is not existent. There are very clear expectations and anticipations for improved health, improved efficiency and in overall improved quality. It is important for an Emergency Medical Services agency or organization to have programs and agendas in place that not only analyze, evaluate and assess the manner in which the organization and its employees are operating. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the aspect of quality improvement in Emergency Medical Services. The paper will take a look into the background of quality improvement and advancement in the emergency medical services sector.…

Social Determinants of Health

Quality Improvement and isk Management in Health Care

A health care system is an institution or organization of people using resources to deliver health care services to meet the target population's health needs. There are many health systems worldwide with many organizational structures and histories. Different countries have various systems that support their health system planning such as trade unions, governments, market participants, charities and religious co-ordinate bodies who deliver health care services that are planned and evolutionary. isk management entails the proper strategies that reduce possibilities of specific losses in health organizations (Spath, 2009).

The systematic utilization and gathering of data are very important to the practice and concept. The programs of risk management consist of both reactive and proactive components. The reactive components include the actions, which are in response to adverse occurrences while proactive components include those activities done to prevent adverse occurrences…

Module 3 Assignment: Exploring EBP Quality ImprovementThere are various kinds of healthcare settings that mental health patients can chose for treatment depending on their financial ability and severity of their mental illness. The first healthcare setting that I would explore in my project is a psychiatric hospital. I work in the said setting. The other two healthcare settings that I would explore in my EBP quality improvement project will be in a private practice and an assisted living health facility or a residential health facility. A psychiatric hospital is an in-patient facility that happens to be a good option for patients in need of both long and short-term services. Essentially, the mission of a psychiatric hospital is to provide care for patients with severe mental health illnesses (Dye, n. d). The structures in a psychiatric hospital happen to be similar as those of a regular hospital. In addition to treatment…

Each of these companies have significantly different cultures, processes and approaches to managing the research, development, manufacturing and service of their products yet both found value in TQM strategies over time. This is because the unifying aspect of TQM being able to make more efficient use of resources, production and plant assets, and also reduce time and cost all make immediate contributions to the financial health of these firms and others like them who adopt these practices.

eferences

Akdere, M. (2009). The ole of Knowledge Management in Quality Management Practices: Achieving Performance Excellence in Organizations. Advances in Developing Human esources, 11(3), 349.

Charles . Emery. (2009). A cause-effect-cause model for sustaining cross-functional integration. Business Process Management Journal, 15(1), 93-108.

Josh Hammond. (2000). The naked truth about business excellence. Total Quality Management, 11(4-6), S666-S673

Jim Walden. (2003). Performance excellence: A QFD approach. The International Journal of Quality & eliability Management, 20(1),…

Success in several high-profile areas, such as stroke prevention, acute coronary intervention, or nosocomial infection have the benefits of focusing the organization on a task which can bring tangible results, measured in clinically-relevant ways.

Specific Program for our Institution

This memo recommends that we choose five treatment areas, and implement specific quality improvement programs for each one. The focus on each should include procedures which are important to the overall quality of this institution's morbidity and mortality results. Given the hospital's focus on acute care, the following procedures might be candidates for quality improvement programs:

Ischemic stroke treatment

ACS treatment (acute coronary syndrome).

Trauma in the ER related to gunshot wounds.

Maternal ward delivery performance

Nosocomial infection reduction.

In each case, the procedures should proceed as outlined above: (1) an identification of the problem, (2) identification of best practices as demonstrated in peer-reviewed clinical trials, (3) adoption of the best…

Efforts should be made to meet these needs and strive harder to excess those expectations. Second principle is the proper leadership within an organization. Good leaders develop unity of purpose and direction of any organization, Leaders should make an effort to create such an environment within an organization that every member works hard to meet the goals. Third principle suggests the involvement of every member of an organization. Their abilities and full involvement will enable the organization to reach high. Fourth principle involves the activities and resource management as a process. Fifth principle says about the systematic approach to management which involves proper identification, management and understanding of interrelated processes for the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization. Sixth principle states that continuous improvement should be the primary objective. Seventh principle involves the proper decision-making which should be based on the collected data and information. Last principle is about the…

Quality Improvement

Comparison of Graphical Tools used in Quality Improvement

Quality Improvement Tool Comparison Matrix

Quality Improvement Tool

Uses

Bar Graph (StatSoft, 2014a)

Values for a single variable is represented by bars or columns

Each bar represents a single case and the value of the variable (time, temperature, etc.…) is denoted by the Y-axis

Histogram (StatSoft, 2014b)

Graphical representation of a frequency distribution for a variable, with columns or bars representing the distribution of class intervals and the height of the columns representing the frequency of each class

Control Chart (StatSoft, 2014c; Trusko, Pexton, Harrington, & Gupta, 2007, p. 146-149)

Compares the means and ranges for a variable using two line charts, although vertical histograms can be incorporated into the chart as well to facilitate visualization of how much values are deviating from the expected norm

Bar graphs are seemingly ubiquitous, in part because of the inherent simplicity of the…

VA Medical Center

Quality Improvement at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center

The Philadelphia Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center is in the process of improving their quality of care for patients. The VA Medical Center provides care to veterans of the United States military and their families. The Philadelphia VA Medical Center has a list for quality improvements; of which one of the main objectives for improvement is customer service. In this paper I will discuss a plan for increasing customer service at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

ecent studies have shown that in the last five years there is an increase in the number of patients being treated by the VA Medical Centers in the U.S. (Ashish et. al., 2006). Clinicians are treating more patients with no additional help; this is could be contributing factor to the decrease in customer service. A higher level of customer service requires dedication from…

Application Quality Improvement Models Organizations Systems, Part I Analysis equired esources eadings Course Text: Applying Quality Management HealthCare: A Systems Approach eview Chapter 9, "Improving Processes Implementing

oot cause analysis

According to Nicolini (2011)

the first step in CA is identifying the incident to be analyzed. This step requires for the problem or incident to be clearly defined and identified. Identifying the problem will assist in determining what caused the incident and how the incident occurred. In the case study, the mother requested for pain medication, and this was within her right. The nurse performed the request, and it was approved by the pharmacist, but the incident occurred when the nurse did not check the IV line correctly. The nurse confused the infants IV line with the mothers, which resulted in the infant been administered with Morphine. This should be an indicator, and it should be recorded as a fact.…

In this regard, it is vitally important that leadership communicate effectively with staff, with particular focus on the fact that quality improvement in patient databases means improved quality in health care. This is good not only for patients, but also for the reputation of the Center, and by association for the staff working with patients as well.

In order to further increase the effectiveness of the PDCA model, the Hospital Corporation of America (ansom et al., 2008, p. 69) went a step further in creating the FOCUS PDCA Model. This model involves the addition of five steps, as indicated by the FOCUS acronym: Find a process to improve; Organize a team that knows the process; Clarify current knowledge of the existing or redesigned process; Understand the variables and causes of process variation within the chosen process; and Select the process improvement and identify the potential action for improvement.

Because of…

The caregiver role includes those activities that assist the client physically, mentally, and emotionally, while still preserving the client's dignity. In order for a nurse to be an effective caregiver, the patient must be treated in a holistic manner. Patient advocacy is another role that the modern nurse assumes when providing quality care. Advocacy is the active support of an important cause, supporting others, or speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves (Kozier, Erb and Blais, 1997).

For the Ns to be more satisfied then, we need a new paradigm or process that is more inclusive, more active between management and staff, and provides more lines of open communication between the groups. Taking into account that the Ns job is hectic, hospital schedules are always frenzied, and there always seems to be a shortage of people, it will take considerable commitment and effort from management to sort…

There are a variety of techniques utilized for quality improvement, each with its own characteristic role in the completion of the procedure as a whole (Methods for Quality Improvement, 2010).

Product improvement is one of the major methods used. The proposal behind this is that the more goods that are improved, the better they will sell. As time progresses, so do significant features of customer approval. Consumers anticipate the essential alterations to be made and will keep making purchases from a particular corporation if their offers change right along with everything else. Enhancements are therefore made to goods that facilitate them to be prepared with the latest features and basics that will help them persist to sell (Methods for Quality Improvement, 2010).

Process improvement is an additional significant aspect of quality improvement. This technique covers the procedures utilized to carry out everyday business operations. This can be everything from the…

represents a needs assessment for quality improvement scenario. The report will assess the need for a quality improvement process within "a manufacturing organization." The report will include a description of the problem and process as well as a flow chart of the process to be analyzed. The report will also describe the relationship of the process to the organization's overall strategic plan and will identify both the internal and external customers of the organization. The paper concludes with an estimate of the level of improvement that could be realized and the value of implementing the new quality improvement process.

The TiaPei Manufacturing Company designs, manufactures and exports small toys that are exported to the United States for sales. The organization has decided to implement a Six Sigma manufacturing quality control program so as to reap the benefits of added efficiency and quality. The company's version of the Sigma process provides…

History
The campaign for quality improvement dates back to nineteenth-century obstetrician, Ignaz Semmelweis’s time; Semmelweiz campaigned for the significance of healthcare providers washing their hands prior to caring for patients. Furthermore, legendary British nurse, Florence Nightingale, determined the link between high mortality rates among army hospital inpatients and inferior living conditions. Surgeon Ernest Codman initiated hospital standards development, adopting and stressing the significance of healthcare outcome assessment approaches (Colton, 2000). Former US President Johnson, in the year 1965, signed the bill that made Medicare a component of the nation’s Social Security scheme. This bill which was enforced in July of 1966 expanded the three-decade-long Social Security initiative and offered nursing home and hospital care, outpatient treatment and home nursing services to individuals aged above 65 years (QIO News, 2014).
Numerous major attempts at quality improvement have been made in the last 50 years, largely initiated by academicians’ health quality campaign. Examples…

Health Care Improvements

The health care industry is one that is much criticized in the United States. Many consumers look at this industry as one big giant industry that is only concerned about profitability, not about the health and safety of its customers. The health care industry must make many changes to change their image and provide better service to its customers. Medicare is a government health care insurance that covers 80% of the medical cost for individuals over the age of 65 years. Medicare currently has a bad reputation with its customers and with doctors. It is important for Medicare to change its reputation and build better relationship with customers and with doctors. By changing their image, Medicare will attract more doctors to become participants and this will be a better service for the customers. In this paper I will address some important steps that Medicare could take to…

Improvement of Human esource Management in a espiratory Care Center

When individuals play as a team they tend to achieve greater clinical and organizational outcomes in a healthcare institution like the respiratory care center. Clinical and financial improvements have been reported in cases where there has been teamwork between the healthcare team. Whenever there is an organizational breakdown, the departments in any organization can conspire to sabotage each other and this hampers the progress of any care giving institution (Hoff 2004).

Overall patient care is achieved whenever there is total cooperation and teamwork between the workers, this is because each worker works with only one sole aim and that is to meet the needs of the patient. In such a case the main goal is to achieve an improved respiratory care. Teamwork exist in two levels in any respiratory care center, the first instance is when there is cooperation between…

Improvement in an Organization That Can Benefit a Customer

An improvement to the organization, which will benefit the customer

The best porter's generic strategy is the distinction strategy; this will help the business to differentiate its service delivery in some way that will help to attract customers. This will overcome the wave of supernumerary services and challenger access. This strategy is the best because it will allow the company to institute changes in line with the desired technological requirements. At this point, differentiation of products and services will increase entrance obstacles in terms of technology and other technical requirements and thus eliminate the threat of new entrants. In other terms, a distinctive product or service will also attract clients and reduce the threat of alternative or substitute service provision (Henderson, 2011).

The selected strategic business approach relates with the business components. This is suitable because it goes in line with…

Quality and Data Base Management

The managers find it worthwhile to employ the quality techniques to for improvement of the business process of the company when their jobs incline much towards problem solving than that of leading and managing. The quality improvement is normally taken to be the prevention of construction defects but it is also applied as a method for resolving business problems. (Quality Improvement of Business Processes) The Database is considered to be a fundamental element of an information system. It backs the construction, updating, retrieval and integration of data. (Data Base Management Systems)

The quality improvement initiatives of a company involve planning, analysis and recommended improvements, and finally the execution of the improvement strategies and their monitoring. The planning phase is involved with demarcation of goals, objectives, scope, organisation, activities, timeline and resources so as to reach at the desired goals. The phase of Analysis and ecommendation…

Quality Circle

Principles of Management: Quality Circles

A quality circle is a small group of employees doing similar or related work who meet regularly to identify, analyze, and solve product-quality and production problems and to improve general operations. The circle is a relatively autonomous unit (ideally about ten workers), usually led by a supervisor or a senior worker and organized as a work unit (Kucera, 2012). The purpose of these groups is to solve problems by focusing on measurable indicators of quality that impact the company's costs, productivity, or other business interests. For instance, quality circles at a manufacturing company might focus on finding ways to minimize product defects, as measured in the amount of product with a particular defect per thousand or million, while, those at an insurance company might seek methods to reduce the frequency of billing errors.

Quality circles are generally associated with Japanese management and manufacturing…

According to his concepts the quality control can be done without too much emphasis on inspection if the process is smooth and can easily rum by the operations. It is today that we recognize the importance of customer's point-of-view but it was Juran who many years ago gave the idea that the perception of quality lies in the mind of customers rather than the producer. "According to the founders of TQM, the five interventions define the core of total quality management. Knowledge of customer requirements provides a test for considering and evaluating process changes. Supplier partnerships ensure that materials entering the organization are of acceptable quality. Cross-functional teams bring the full spectrum of relevant information and expertise to bear on decisions about system wide problems. Scientific methods and statistical analyses provide teams with trustworthy data to use in their decision making. And process management heuristics can improve the quality of…

Caregiving to Elderly People

In this document, interactive caregiving training is briefly discussed.

Caregiving to Elder People

ecent developments at the medical industry and more health conscious diet increase the life expectancy. According to the Census, 36.3 million Americans were 65 and over in 2004 and the numbers are expected to increase as 71.5 million in 2030. Aging brings serious memory problems, emotional and physical declines along with the natural changes of inner and outer organs. Taking a good care of an elderly person with memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's disease is a very demanding job requiring serious physical and mental efforts. Therefore, intellectual and mental training of the caregivers is very important. The physical work caregivers undertake is very hard including bathing elderly people, feeding them, running errands and trying to understand what they really need. The result of this long-term care is exhaustion, anxiety and depression. egardless of…

Quality & Safety

The quality and safety of health care services has been a major issue in the recent past because of the significance of these factors in the improvement of patient outcomes and enhancing the effectiveness of the health care system. Health care professionals and practitioners have increasingly focused on the need to improve the quality and safety of their services given the constant increase in patient population. As a result, various measures have been developed and implemented in attempts to enhance the quality and safety of care services and improvement of practices. These measures include delivery of patient-centered care, safety initiatives, teamwork and collaboration, informatics, quality improvement, and evidence-based practice. There are several ways with which incidents or interactions in each of these components are handled and can be improved based on leadership/management theory content.

Patient Centered Care -- Interaction

A bedside report was not done at bedside…

Operations anagement

This a asters Business Administration (BA) Paper Operations anagement There a paper required, due parts. Each part a maximum 4 pages long , counting text exhibits, excluding bibliography references.

Current state

Offset and digital printing often faces quality issues related to several factors. The differences and similarities that exist between offset and digital print in the quality assurance process though the two methods share common demerits. Offset printing, which is applicable to a wide range of materials, produces more frequent quality issues than digital print, which has been referred to by White (1975) as sharper and suffering from less technical constraints such as resolution. However, for digital print, resolution also serves as an issue because where a lower-resolution design is used, the print quality suffers as well. oreover, digital printers suffer from lack of digital printing standards which means providers who use digital print have few tools and…

Door Balloon

Door-to-Balloon Time

The quality indicator examined herein is the measurement known as door-to-balloon time, which is a defined element in emergency cardiac care that refers to the time from patient entrance to an emergency department to the time a catheter wire passes the lesion responsible for a myocardial infarction. An increase in door-to-balloon time carries with it an increased risk for tissue damage and thus more permanent complications and detriments to patients' health, and thus certain standards have been set in an effort to promote best practices and measure the efficacy of emergency department treatment of myocardial infarctions. The current recommendation for door-to-balloon time is ninety minutes or less, and this is a number that should be strived for with every patient, not simply as an average for the emergency treatment of myocardial infarctions in a given department as a whole, as again increased time can means significant…

Typically, accurate documentation assists in limiting errors. (Stanford Hospital & Clinics, 2012).

Car et al. (2008) point out that integrating of electronic health within a healthcare organization enhances quality and safety of patients. The author argues that electronic health record assists the healthcare provider to readily access comprehensive information in order to minimize the incident of error as well as enhancing patient safety and quality of healthcare delivery. While Stanford Hospital and Clinics has made several efforts to enhance quality healthcare delivery and patient safety within the hospital environment, however, the issue of medical errors is still rampant within the healthcare sector in the United States. Meanwhile, there are several ways the issue of error incidents can affect the healthcare delivery.

Impact of Error incident on Healthcare Delivery

A major effect of error incident within the health sector is the decline in the quality healthcare delivery and the issue could…

This is important, because it is showing how a lack of: following up and monitoring safety standards can increase the long-term financial problems facing a heath care facility. (Master, 2005, pp. 259 -- 285)

At the same time, there is also the possibility that the lack of focus on safety could expose the hospital to possible law suits. This is because the plaintiffs could use this information to show, how the staff is negligent in the quality care that they are providing to them. Once this occurs, it means that the costs for: medical malpractice insurance and other operating expenses will rise. While, the facility will have the negative publicity from: these lawsuits and there is the possibility of increased amounts of regulation (surrounding internal procedures). This is important, because it is showing how these kinds of issues will have an adverse effect on: the reputation and economic viability of…

healthcare organizations fail to implement sound quality improvement initiatives? Identify barriers and constraints to QI (quality improvement)

Improving the overall quality of any organization is a challenge -- yet the challenge often seems much greater, given the institutional barriers and constraints faced by the health care industry. First of all, there is the difficulty of measuring quality of care given the financial constraints imposed by insurance. The Institute for Health Care Improvement has suggested health care organizations be publicly profiled and assigned to varying rated tiers on the basis of their performance on quality. But currently, physicians and hospitals are often compensated solely based on the sheer dollar amount of care they provide, which is usually greater depending on the patient's length of stay. This discourages the use of new treatments and therapies that may send patients home sooner. Even serious medical errors may be financially rewarded if they justify…

Quality, cost-competitiveness, customer service and first-to-market are all essential determinants to global commercial success. All sectors of the economic market are obliged to reduce costs and production times while increasing profits and market share. Ambitious organizations are turning to systems management programs such as Six Sigma or Total Quality Management to develop and maintain exceptional standards across the whole of an organization. This includes all aspects of production and manufacturing processes, as well as marketing, sales and distribution, financial considerations, employee motivation and customer service. Finally, product development in the form of a perennial portfolio of projects helps to ensure the viability of a company.

The incorporation of systems management programs has become integral to the renaissance and future of an organization. Often, enterprises will combine qualities from several methodologies such as integration aspects of Six Sigma with Project Management; the very topic of consideration for this essay that examines…

Quality Improvement Implementation eport

Project Management Processes and Procedures

This involves planning, organizing, and controlling resources to achieve specific business objectives and goals. The project manager is accountable for accomplishing the project's objectives, building the project requirements, as well as managing project constraints (Ireland, 2006). The project management process encompasses several aspects; five process groups and a control system. These processes include initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and finally closing.

The international standards promote the adoption of a process approach when developing, implementing, and improving the effectiveness of a quality management system to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements. For an organization t function effectively, it has to identify and manage numerous linked activities (Lock, 2007). An activity using resources and managed in order to enable the transformation of inputs into outputs can be considered as a process. Often the output from one process directly forms the input of the…

Quality Improvement

There are several key quality improvement activities in which my hospital participates. The first is the use of bedside shift reports. One of the reasons this improves quality is that it means that the nurse coming into a shift receives this report from the previous shift, and learns about the different things that happened. So there is more information that is being transferred between nurses, and that allows them to make better decisions, more accurate decisions and overall decisions that are better for the patient. This enhanced knowledge transfer has proven to be effective in a number of different studies.

Additionally, administrators measure outcomes, and relate those to the actions that people take. What this means is when a procedure has changed, the outcomes are measured and then evaluated against the past performance. If the new technique delivers better results, they keep it and if the new technique…

Quality Control

Balanced Scorecard

The balanced scorecard was developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton and serves as a useful tool for designing strategies along different types of important objectives in any organization. Other business models were deemed too narrow and they wanted something more comprehensive to translate vision and strategy into objectives and measures across four balanced perspectives: the financial perspective, customer perspective, internal process perspective, and the learning and growth perspective. Each perspective is important to look at individually, however when the four approaches are "balanced" then the organization is in the best position to create value for all stakeholders.

According to its founders, Robert Kaplan and David Norton, it consists of four major performance measures- Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, Learning and Growth (Kaplan & Norton, 2007). The financial measure gives an idea of the past performance of a company, whereas measures like customer satisfaction and learning…

Quality Indicator

Healthcare Quality Indicators

ith the adoption of the Affordable Care Act, also now commonly referred to as Obamacare, the array of quality indicators used to assess healthcare facility performance has expanded. The addition of a number of quality indicators with direct connections to penalties and other punitive measures has created a great deal of pressure for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Many of these quality indicators are designed to heighten accountability among hospitals and other acute healthcare treatment cites or systems. Among them, penalties for preventable readmissions has become an exceptionally prominent indicator of performance quality.

Quality Indicator:

According to Brink (2013), the quality indicator of readmission rates has become an important issue for healthcare leaders and hospital administrators. Brink reports that roughly 12% of all Medicare patients will be readmitted to the hospital within the first 30 days of discharge for recurrent conditions that could be prevented…

Quality Management Analysis and ecommendations for ubicon Group -- a Travelcom Company

It is common for quality management symptoms and problems to appear when two or more organizations are integrated together, as is the case of the business units within the ubicon Group. It is imperative however in assessing support services using quality management frameworks and techniques to not focus too closely on the symptoms and not see the greater strategic challenges and roadblocks standing in the way of greater levels of customer service quality (Sepic, McNabb, 1994). The intent of this analysis is to explain how ubicon Group can use the frameworks of Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, lean principles and balanced scorecards (BSC) to attain a higher level of performance and customer satisfaction. Treating the symptoms will only get the customer service team so far. A key underlying assumption of this analysis is that the fundamental nature…

Quality Management

In order to continue molding specific objectives and budget strategies, we at Hartman Industries LLC., have to put together a plan to develop and advance our company's superiority and services to remain competitive and meet the needs of our clients. We have determined that Hartman must improve the quality of our company with a precise agenda and instruments that will allow us to advance the level of service we offer to the employees as well as our clients. In improving excellence and our company's value, we must start with the employees that are already working at our firms to improve their knowledge of the business world as technology, society, and the environment changes. Our professional experts will be evaluated and meet one on one with administration from each branch of service to determine their capacity and worth in assisting the clients so we can determine what types of…

Quality and Data-ased Management

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

The purpose of this paper is to examine the organization of NewYork- Presbyterian Hospital in relation to the hospital's quality indicators and measures that are currently in place. Further to identify quality indicators and goal measurements used in the organization plan and also to review the mission statement and vision.

Rigorous standards are used in ranking healthcare institutions particularly when ranking is applied to hospitals. There are approximately 6,012 hospitals in the United States not including military and veteran facilities and out of all of those "only 177 or fewer than 1 in 30 were of high enough quality to be ranked in even a single specialty this year."(Souroujon, 2004)

The first category applied in consideration of a hospital's ranking is that of the hospital's "reputation." (Souroujon, 2004) The second category is that of "mortality ratio" (Souroujon, 2004) and the last is a miscellaneous…

The underlying theory is simple: a company can still fail even if it produces high quality goods. It could, for example, have a bloated management structure. hat TQM does is it allows the company to manage everything so that senior management knows the value that all parts of the company contribute to the bottom line.

ith this high level of control, the total quality movement focuses on enhancing quality through the synthesis of structure and strategy (Lowder, 2007). For example, a firm that derives competitive advantage through its reputation for high quality will design its organization and its systems so that every aspect of the organization supports that strategy. The same is true of a firm with a cost leadership strategy. At al-Mart, for example, every aspect of that company is designed to lower the cost per unit sold. Companies that rely on innovation likewise have designed their organization and…

Quality Circles

ORGANIZATIONAL EHAVIOR: ARE QUALITY CIRCLES EFFECTIVE

Quality Circles became popular during the mid 1980s, when buzzwords such as Total Quality Management and efficiency teams became popularized in U.S. companies seeking to gain a competitive advantage over international production giants including Japanese manufacturers. A great deal of controversy exists however, as to whether or not quality circles truly accomplish what they are set out to do: improve organizational efficiency, worker productivity and performance. While many companies have argued that quality circles have resulted in dramatic cost savings, a large body of research suggests that quality circles have generally failed in a majority of companies that have implemented them. The aim of this study is to examine the nature of quality circles, and to ascertain whether or not they are effective mechanisms for organizational improvement.

ORGANIZATIONAL EHAVIOR: ARE QUALITY CIRCLES EFFECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

According to research, more than 50% of the…

This can cause the organization to fall behind as competitor discovers a way to do things better, faster, and more efficiently, essentially raising the bar or standards of the industry, much as Toyota, the originator of the continuous improvement philosophy, did for the car industry. Even when quality control mandates that the least wasteful processes always be eliminated, by creating a mechanism with the continual improvement philosophy where change is an accepted part of the company atmosphere, the organizational actors tend to be more responsive to the need of sweeping changes in the modes of production, and also tend to find more creative solutions to potential problems that lie outside of current corporate methodology. In short, what organization would you wish to emulate -- Toyota, with its constant innovation, or the tried-and-true model of GM? The answer, in light of recent business history, seems clear.

orks Cited

Kaizen." Answers.com. Retrieved…

Literature from past researches also brings the ease of finding relevant information to the study. If the research takes advantage at the recommendations made by past researchers regarding the quality of education within institutions, it paves way for creation of reliably viable recommendations (oss & Onwuegbuzie, 2010).

eferences

Alemu, D.S. (2010). Expansion vs. Quality: Emerging Issues of for-Profit Private Higher

Education Institutions in Ethiopia. International eview of Education / Internationale

Zeitschrift Fur Erziehungswissenschaft, 56(1), 51-61. doi:10.1007/s11159-009-9150-3

Al-Yaseen, H., Al-Jaghoub, S., & Al-Salhi, N. (2011). Issues and Challenges in Implementing

eLearning Projects in Higher Education: The Case of Jordan. Proceedings of the

European Conference on E-Learning, 17-23.

Lunday, E., & APPA: Association of Higher Education Facilities, O. (2010). Assessing and Forecasting Facilities in Higher Education Including the Top Facilities Issues. APPA

Thought Leaders Series, 2010. APPA: Association of Higher Education Facilities

Officers,

Mohamadzadeh, M., Farzaneh, J., Mousavi, M., Ma'ghabl, ., &…

The hotel and the LST core values are aligned in customer service and hospitality, meeting the customer needs as often as humanly possible. (LST websites)

Measurement and Feedback and Cultural Change (Yee Tsang & Antony 2001) measurement and feedback systems are currently lacking, other than in the nature of the fact that booking groups often return, though individuals not necessarily. (Mccarville 1993)

7 Essentials for Successful Leisure Programming

1. Establish programming priorities. LST has adequately developed a set of priorities regarding both what the consumer will see, as a cultural reflection and from an historical perspective. The company has also effectively developed a TQM approach to the development of programs that meet the consumer's expectations of a tour. Individualization and keeping the costs of such within the expectations of individuals and groups will be the key in the future.

2. Discover clients' needs. Client's needs discovery is currently produced by…

also emphasize the importance of education and communication to consumers in order to ensure that quality standards are met.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established during 1987, when businesses were slowly but increasingly becoming aware of the importance of quality service and goods to customers. The award program was then established in order to not only promote quality awareness, but also to recognize businesses providing the highest quality in comparison to others. This promotes competition, which in turn promotes higher quality goods and services.

In addition to the health care sector, the annual Baldrige Award is presented by the President to businesses in manufacturing, service, small business, education, and nonprofit organizations. The award, along with the Baldrige National Quality Program, is managed by the National Institute of tandards and Technology.

Businesses can apply for the award by submitting the details of their achievements and improvements in seven key…

Quality Management

In the contemporary business environment, business control chart is very critical to enhance continuous business process and business improvement. The use of statistical process control charts (SPC) is very critical to enhance improvement and quality of products and service. Process control chart is a statistical tool that allows business to record data regarding the performances of business process on a regular basis. The data may be recorded hourly, weekly or on daily basis. The major objective for using SPC is to compare the present product performances with the past product performances and allow a business to prevent defective materials. Thus, SPC is powerful tool to enhance continuous business improvement. (Harrington, 2009).

Objective of this paper is to use the control chart process to determine the weekly sales process of Ford Motor Company.

X Bar and . Process Control Charts for Weekly Sales of Ford Motor

The charts are…

Quality TV generates interest about social problems

Quite often, fictional TV programs can raise national consciousness and awareness about social problems. Through fiction, viewers care about people far away because problems and issues are personalized and humanized. For example, the HBO program Oz about life in prison has generated compassion about the fate of incarcerated individuals and motivated calls for prison reform in a way that seeing someone in handcuffs on the nightly news cannot. The Sopranos was not simply a high-quality TV drama, its location in a suburban community also forced viewers to think more critically about their daily lives, like the lies, pain, and murder that lay behind the closed doors of affluent suburban New Jersey. The use of violence in these shows is designed to accurately depict life

Quality TV is cinematic

Violence has become part of the cinematic vocabulary, and modern television dramas with legitimate aspirations…

Quality Cost

Quality and eliability

The cost of quality, in the context of management and the business side of operations, is quite different from (though related to) the cost of quality from a consumer perspective. The old adage, "you get what you pay for" is a word of warning or reminder to consumers that higher quality items tend to be more expensive, and thus the "cost of quality" is simply a higher price tag for consumers. For the companies actually producing goods and services, this same perspective might apply to certain materials and equipment procured for use in the production process, but this is only one of many "costs of quality" that business must endure (Accounting for Management, 2012). Factors of time, process controls, testing, correcting mistakes as quickly and completely as possible, and a variety of business- and industry-specific concerns all impact the costs that a company incurs in…

The result was that even in an online scaffolding environment, the students were still able to gain knowledge through problem-solving with group members (Doering and Veletsianos, 2007).

Scaffolding software is fairly new, but is becoming increasingly popular in the classroom setting. Artemis is a scaffolding software program which gives students access to a digital library to search and sort science information related to project-based investigations. Students are able to not only organize folders containing information on the information they are seeking, but they are also able to share this information with other classmates. This web sharing feature not only supports collaboration between students, but teachers are also able to collaborate. Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between scaffolding software and student motivation as well as conceptual understanding (Butler and Lumpe, 2008).

Based on the research on scaffolding, it is determined that it is evidence-based learning. This type…

Improvements to Target's Logistics Processes

As one of the leading retailers in North America, Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) has one of the most advanced logistics, supply chain management and planning systems and series of processes in the retail industry. Target has specifically designed their entire value chain to deliver higher-end electronic products that can compete with WalMart, specifically in the areas of flat screen televisions, laptop computers and increasingly, Apple-branded iPads and iPod products. Target is also using their advanced supply chain processes including Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and eplenishment (CPF) to compete in the high-end women's clothing lines that WalMart is not choosing to compete in (Target Investor elations, 2012). At the close of their latest fiscal year, Target was operating approximately 1,760 stores in 49 states. Target finances its operations through its retail and credit card business units, using the profits from those two operations to finance the operations of…

114). ising medical costs and diminishing quality of care demand that something be done, however (IOM 2009).

The Quality Chasm documents and the research that went into producing them have been specifically requested and utilized by the Department on Health and Human Services to implement policy reform at state and local levels that his directly changed the way primary care is provided (IOM). Nursing education is also affected by these policy changes as expectations and standards of care change.

eferences

IOM. (2009). "Crossing the Quality Chasm: The IOM Health Care Quality Initiative." Accessed 18 September 2009. http://www.iom.edu/CMS/8089.aspx

Piper, S. (2008). Top Ten Myths of American Health Care and Crisis. Pacific esearch Institute. Accessed 18 September 2009. http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/docLib/20081020_Top_Ten_Myths.pdf

10). While basically valid, this claim is disingenuous and actually self-defeating. While we might not have a "right" to any of these things, the government does provide food, shelter and clothing to those in need, and not just on an emergency basis (as is the case with health care). Health goes to basic security of life, and the government has an inherent duty to protect its citizen's lives.

The Qulity Chasm report has been used to change healthcare by advocating a shift in primary care to a more developed infrastructure via systems demonstrations. The report affected both policy and ethics in its finding on lowered safety levels due to insufficient staffing capabilities (IOM). Nursing education has changed due to the enhanced standards and new methodologies suggested by the report.

eferences

IOM. (2009). "Crossing the Quality Chasm: The IOM Health Care Quality Initiative." Accessed 18 September 2009. http://www.iom.edu/CMS/8089.aspx

Piper, S. (2008).…

Poor dental health can be a portal that allows bacteria and other infectious organisms into blood stream. Poor dental health care can also lead to poor outcomes of dialysis. Heart disease patients have special needs when it comes to dental care. Spreading this knowledge would motivate patients with these diseases to visit Eastside clinic regularly.

Threats

If staffing of more employees is not able to attract more patients to the clinic then the clinic would make a greater loss than it is currently making.

Kool Smiles being a profit making organization might be more efficient and have a more cooperative and friendly staff which can attract Eastside clinic patients towards them.

Promotions through dental vehicles would lead to extra costs such as repairmen of vehicles and fuel costs for which the clinic might not have funds.

The clinic might not have enough funds to employee more people

Alternating sites

Currently,…

Managing and Improving Quality

Methodology for implementation of performance measurement

Information technology applications of Mayo Clinic

How benchmarks and milestones are involved in quality

Performance and quality measures are aligned to the Mayo Clinic's mission, vision, and strategic plan

Quality assurance and improvement is incorporated through various techniques. The organizations that is willing to invest in their growth and attain a satisfactory level of consumer satisfaction through quality improvement. The quality measures that are incorporated are also investigated and improved through various methodologies in performance measurement. Technology and learning are basic elements required to improve quality and performance measurement. The BSC model for performance measurement and quality improvement, benchmarking, balanced scorecard, and quality mile stones are discussed below. Mayo clinic is one of the progressive organization providing healthcare facilities to patients. The features of information security are identified as a sector for improvement in Mayo clinic.

Introduction:

Mayo clinic is…

All of these metrics are taken into account to define the optimal level of process re-engineering efforts and strategies to ensure each process that is re-engineered has the highest potential for success. The organizations who are best at CQI also concentrate their efforts on change management initiatives and programs during this third step in the process. Companies who excel at their CQI-based programs and initiatives make the necessary investments in change management strategies and programs early so their employees and management teams have the opportunity to share ownership in this key process area (Parast, 2010). Studies of CQI programs critical success factors point to change management as being the single most important element in achieving the original goals of any quality management program, as without employees' support any program will fail over time (Parast, 2010).

Once change management strategies have been put into place the senior management teams often works…

functional roles healthcare organizations. Quality isk Management levels understand roles order interface

One of the most important functional roles within any healthcare organization is quality management and quality control. In a sense, the individuals who work in quality management have one of the most pivotal jobs in such an organization for the simple fact that they interact with others in virtually every other aspect of their organization. Quality management is responsible for ensuring adherence to quality measures in the administrative, care-delivery, and convalescing aspects of a healthcare organization. As such, those who work within this department are responsible for three primary job duties that are directly responsible for the deliverance of quality measures in an organization. These functions are the development, implementation, and the evaluation of quality initiatives that may pertain to specific departments, but which certainly affect the operations of a healthcare agency in its entirety.

In many respects,…