Implementing total quality management in the health care industry

Health care organizations across the nation have begun instituting quality improvement programs in order to meet the demands of improving service and clinical quality in health care. The implementation process requires time, effort, and money in order for the health care organizations to learn who their customers are and what they want. The results, which sometimes are not recognized until after a two- to three-year period, include reduced costs by cutting waste and complexity and by doing things right the first time. Still, there are many challenges in adapting total quality management (TQM) to public organizations such as the health care industry. This article discusses the founding principles of TQM and how they are applied in implementing TQM to enhance quality in health care organizations. This article also forecasts the future of TQM implementation in public health care.