Title: Managing healthcare quality in project management framework

Authors: Prasanta K. Dey, Seetharaman Hariharan, Deryk Chen

Addresses: Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK. ' Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. ' Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad

Abstract: Healthcare professionals routinely deploy various quality management tools and techniques in order to improve performance of healthcare delivery. However, they are characterised by fragmented approach i.e., they are not linked with the strategic intent of the organisation. This study introduces a holistic quality improvement method, which integrates all quality improvement projects with the strategic intent of the healthcare organisations. It first identifies a healthcare system and its environment. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of the system are then derived with the involvement of the concerned stakeholders. This leads to developing the strategies in order to satisfy customers in line with the organisation|s competitive position. These strategies help identify a few projects, the implementation of which ensures achievement of desired quality. The projects are then prioritised with the involvement of the concerned stakeholders and implemented in order to improve the system performance. The effectiveness of the method has been demonstrated using a case study of an intensive care unit at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex Hospital in Trinidad.

Keywords: quality management; quality improvement; project management; performance measurement; healthcare services; hospital based healthcare; strengths; weaknesses; opportunities; threats; SWOT matrix; project prioritising; analytical hierarchy process; AHP; stakeholders; intensive care units; ICU; Trinidad; healthcare quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2007.013092

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2007 Vol.3 No.3, pp.261 - 278

Published online: 07 Apr 2007 *

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