title: The big picture. Total quality management and continuous quality improvement.
abstract: The pressure to improve the quality of clinical and customer service outcomes continues to escalate. In most cases, sustained improvement (either incremental or breakthrough) is a direct result of improving service delivery and work processes. The challenge, for managers, is to design work processes that predictably lead to satisfying and cost-effective results. Total quality management (TQM) and continuous quality improvement (CQI) may seem like "this year's fads," but they are form, not fashion. TQM and CQI processes generate a customer-responsive environment in which employees can contribute to achieving the organization's mission, vision, and strategic objectives.
authors.affiliation: Roey Kirk Associates, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kirk
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009729:Nursing; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care