Title: Cost of quality in healthcare: a case study in a clinical laboratory

Authors: Mouna Zahar; Abdellah El Barkany; Ahmed El Biyaali

Addresses: Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, B.P. 2202 – Route d'Imouzzer – FES – MAROC, Morocco ' Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, B.P. 2202 – Route d'Imouzzer – FES – MAROC, Morocco ' Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, B.P. 2202 – Route d'Imouzzer – FES – MAROC, Morocco

Abstract: In today's environment, many laboratories are challenged to maintain or increase their quality while simultaneously lowering their overall costs. The objective of this research is to use the cost of quality (COQ) model to estimate the COQ-related activities at a clinical laboratory located in Morocco. Using data collected during six month, we allocated the direct costs associated with quality-related activities in the laboratory across COQs cost categories: prevention, appraisal, internal failures, and external failures. We found that approximately 83% of total COQ was spent on costs of 'good quality' (prevention and appraisal), while 17% was spent on costs of 'poor quality' (internal and external failures). The high percentage of COQ spent on prevention and appraisal activities is consistent with efforts to ensure high quality laboratory results.

Keywords: cost of quality; COQ; appraisal cost; prevention cost; failure cost; clinical laboratories; quality management; healthcare management; case study; Morocco; internal failures; external failures.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2016.075254

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2016 Vol.17 No.4, pp.536 - 548

Received: 26 Sep 2014
Accepted: 19 Oct 2014
Published online: 09 Mar 2016 *

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