title: Total quality management in orthodontic practice.
abstract: Quality is the buzz word for the new Millennium. Patients demand it, and we must serve it. Yet one must identify it. Quality is not imaging or public relations; it is a business process. This short article presents quality as a balance of three critical notions: core clinical competence, perceived values that our patients seek and want, and the cost of quality. Customer satisfaction is a variable that must be identified for each practice. In my practice, patients perceive quality as communication and time, be it treatment or waiting time. Time is a value and cost that must be managed effectively. Total quality management is a business function; it involves diagnosis, design, implementation, and measurement of the process, the people, and the service. Kazien is a function that reduces value services, eliminates waste, and manages time and cost in the process. Total quality management is a total commitment for continuous improvement.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Atta
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D006801:Humans; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011215:Practice Management, Dental / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000191:economics; D017748:Time Management; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods