Total quality management in the public sector--issues for implementation.
The Quality Matters Article is reprinted from the Australian Association for Quality in Health Care (AAGQHC) Newsletter (Vol 4, No 2). Researched and written by Sharyn White (Senior Planner, Southern Health Advancement Planning Unit, with the South Australian Health Commission) it is an excerpt from a qualifying dissertation for for a Masters in Policy and Administration at Flinders University. Written when the author was the Quality Co-ordinator, Noarlunga Health Services, SA, the article examines the literature related to some of the differences between the public and private health sectors, and explores the use of Total Quality Management systems in public health care facilities in light of the literature. Many of the issues around the use of Total Quality Management in health care remain unresolved. Will it achieve better results than other quality approaches? Can an industrial model achieve improvements in patient care? Is it more appropriate in teh public or private sectors? Is TQM appropriate in health care? Is it just a jargonistic name change? What's the difference, when all is said and done, between TQM and other ways of addressing quality? Does the cost of implementing TQM justify the results? Sharyn White's research addresses some of these issues from a refreshing perspective. My thanks to the author, and to the editors of the AAQHC Newsletter for their permission to reprint the article in Health Information Management Journal.
Noarlunga Health Services, SA.
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D007221:Industry / Q000592:standards; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017150:Public Sector / Q000592:standards*; D013021:South Australia; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*