West Florida Regional Medical Center - Assignment Example

? West Florida Regional Medical Center Case Study What were the strategic reasons behind West Florida Regional Medical Center’s (WFRMC’s) decisions to invest heavily in TQM? The west Florida Regional Medical Center’s decided to invest heavily in TQM because in Pensacola, the primary employer was using the TQM approach and had been satisfied with the results. He supported the commerce program chamber. The TQM approach was going to be useful since the competition that existed for patients was very high. Since the use, of continuous quality improvement strategy had been a success in the previous four years then there was a probability that the TQM was also going to be a bigger success. This was especially for areas that required prices for services. The management team had already been trained in techniques for quality improvement (Curtis, 2000). 2. How did the program undertaken at WFRMC reflect this strategic impetus? The program undertaken at WFRMC reflects the strategic impetus by making the CQI staff quit small. The program had one employee who acted as a staff and at the same time a coach and a member of the improvement council. The program was supposed to get a process that needed improvement, organize a team conversant with the process, clarify the existing knowledge on the process, understand what brings about variation in the process and finally selects improvement for the process. The organized team was supposed to act by holding gain, reconsidering the owner, and continuing the improvement program. They were supposed to check data for improving processes and customer outcomes (Curtis, 2000). 3. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the TQM program as it was implemented here? The weaknesses of the TQM program that was implemented was the resulting loose reports. The results were not getting into the medical records of the patients in a timely manner. This led to irritation on the physicians as it caused delayed patients discharge. This meant higher costs that could have been avoided. The strengths of the program were the decisions made by the team when they decided that a charting team was necessary to meet all the hospital’s needs. The program had an effect of making the professional staff free of the small departments. It also led to increased charters availability in the large departments for various activities (Curtis, 2000). 4. What were the influences of corporate headquarters in this effort? To continue in monitoring the implementation of the program in the organization the corporate headquarters found methods to describe the levels of TQM program. The reviews of the quality initiative were a good process that was triggered during the assessment. The council made preparations and participated in reviewing the quality of the program. The exercise proved to be of great benefit to the understanding of the results and what was accomplished using the techniques and tools of TQM. The departmental implementation was a varied one throughout the organization and thus created better understanding of the implementation of the TQM. The corporate headquarters also created a scoring matrix which was used for assessment of the consistent use of the program after implementation (Curtis, 2000). 5. What effort has been made to measure the impact of the program on the hospital, especially in terms of supporting its strategic directions? The impacts of the program on the hospital are examined by the quality improvement category. The efforts that the department makes to develop and come up with full potential in the workforce are examined. It examines areas such as the process of improving practice, meeting skills, and the quality management guidelines. The Quality Awareness building examined the decisions that the department made on the quality of training and education employees need. It addresses areas such as employee orientation and creation of employee awareness. In addition, the presence of QA linkage examines the connection of data and information to the improvement program (Curtis, 2000). 6. What effort has been made to use TQM to support tactical programs within the hospital? A team of supervisors who knew and were able to own the charting efforts especially in the large departments was created to carry out design assessment of the program. The team meetings were used to brief the department heads in gaining feedback and support. Experiments were carried out to get feedback and support. The team made a decision to create a universal team that would meet the needs of the hospital. The possibility of a continuing arrangement was made, and it was discovered that the charting activities were floating to the large departments. A consultant was then hired to help in evaluation of potential growth of services, which showed that there was safe medical care with implementation of the program. The consultant then made a challenge to the staff to help in development of the department’s vision and trends. The CQI process was then developed to evaluate costs and consumption of services. For the charge process to be reached the aspects of the process was analyzed and meetings held. The management provided to OB patients was analyzed, and conferences held to hold discussions about the observations that were observed. A standard practice that was placed was that of ensuring all placentas were sent to the laboratory for pathology analysis. Reviews for one year period were made on the OB charges (Curtis, 2000). 7. What should John Kausch do next in dealing with continuous improvement? John Kausch should be concerned with the implementation of the continuous improvement from one department to the other. He should ensure that he writes his annual report ensuring that the variation is acceptable and if the implementation is still appropriate. He should aim at the importance of maintaining enthusiasm. He should be aware that forcing individuals to conform to the program could be a great demotivating act for the staff. He ought to learn how to create interest in the managers who have no or little interest in the implementation of the program. John should sell the idea into all managers and staff (Curtis, 2000). 8. If West Florida Regional Medical Center was to introduce an internal medicine residency program, how should the concepts of microsystems be incorporated into its current quality efforts? The microsystems can be incorporated into the current quality efforts by holding reviews initially then incorporating them into the improvement cycle. A plan that consists of quality guidelines on how they should be implemented is necessary to make identification on the areas that really need the microsystems and provide maximum results together with the quality efforts. Training should be given to the staff on how to incorporate the microsystems into the quality efforts. A world-class approach should be used to evaluate, refine, and improve the integration process of the microsystems into the quality efforts that already exist (Curtis, 2000). Reference Curtis, P. (2000). West Florida Regional Medical Center.Case Study, 522-546. Read More