Question

Please explain how quality might be measured in an organization. What are the various tools that could be used, and how might their use present challenges in implementation

Answer 1

Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service is consistent. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only on product and service quality, but also on the means to achieve it. Quality management, therefore, uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality.

Customers recognize that quality is an important attribute in products and services.Customer satisfaction is the backbone of Quality Management.

To survive and thrive. Good quality management can enhance your organisation’s brand and reputation, protect it against risks, increase its efficiency, boost its profits and position it to keep on growing. All while making staff and customers happier.

Quality professionals use numerous methods, metrics, tools and techniques. quality dimensions include :

Quality Control   : looks at processes , concerned with control ,focuses on auditing an organization ,

deals with conformance to requirements , specifies what is required.

Quality Assurance : looks at outcomes , concerned with monitoring ,focuses on meeting customer needs (customers defined in the widest sense) , provides guidelines.

Quality Improvement   : has an element of self assessment , encourages review and reflection , has structures for the sharing of god practice , builds in continuous improvement.

Tools to measure quality :

Quality tools used to define and assess problems with organization as being helpful in prioritizing quality and safety problems and focusing on systems, not individuals.

1. Root-cause analysis was reported to be useful to assess reported errors/incidents and differentiate between active and latent errors, to identify need for changes to policies and procedures, and to serve as a basis to suggest system changes, including improving communication of risk.

2. Six Sigma System was reported to have been successfully used to decrease defects/variations and operating costs and improve outcomes in a variety of settings and for a variety of processes. Six Sigma was found to be a detailed process that clearly differentiated between the causes of variation and outcome measures of process.

3. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) was used by the majority of initiatives included in this analysis to implement initiatives gradually, while improving them as needed.The majority of quality improvement efforts using PDSA found greater success using a series of small and rapid cycles to achieve the goals improved by providing instruction and training on the use of PDSA cycles, using feedback on the results and meeting regularly and increasing the team’s effectiveness by collaborating with others.

4. Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) was used to avoid events and improve or maintain the quality of service.FMEA was used prospectively to identify potential areas of failure where experimental characterization of the process at the desired speed of change could be assessed,

challenges in implication :

1. culture of safety and improvement that rewards improvement and is driven to improve quality is important.

2. Quality improvement teams need to have the right stakeholders involved.

3. Quality improvement teams and stakeholders need to understand the problem and root causes.

4. Evidence-based practice can facilitate ongoing quality improvement efforts.

5. Efforts to change practice and improve the quality of care can have multiple purposes.

6. Appropriate use of technology can improve team functioning, foster collaboration, reduce human error, and improve patient safety.

7. Efforts need to have sufficient resources, including protected staff time.

8. Change takes time, so it is important to stay focused and persevere.