Total Quality Management: The Latest Approach

A buzz word in today's businesses, Total Quality Management (TQM) is the process of instilling quality throughout an organization and its business processes

- Dr M Balasubramanian

The TOM has been buzz word of today's organization. Total Quality Management is the process of instilling quality throughout an organization and its business processes. It is a system of activities directed at achieving delighted customers, empowered employees, higher revenues, and lower costs.

To achieve service excellence, hospitals must strive for zero defects retaining every customer that they can profitably serve. This requires continuous efforts to improve the quality of the service delivery and hence the TQM has a lot of relevance in this sector.

Healthcare organizations are required to focus on Total quality improvements:

• Rendering acceptable,

▸ Quality health services to patients

• At affordable price,

• Within in a reasonable time;

▸ Applying zero errors to all patient services by

▸ Training employees in medical care on aspects such as error prevention

▸ Reducing delay and providing prompt attention to patient needs

Accountability:

• Total quality management is a system that makes quality the responsibility of all clinicians and administrators throughout the health care organization.

Raising Fundamental Metrics:

▸ Customer-focus, error prevention, employee participation, teamwork, systemization, leadership, and continuous quality improvement are TQM universal management concepts that can be transferred to any business setting. TOM uses quality as the fundamental measurement metric, continuous improvement as the philosophy, and employee involvement as the approach.

Measurable: