QMHC interview: Karl Albrecht. Interview by Marie E. Sinioris

For over a decade, Karl Albrecht has helped health care and other organizations focus on creating superior value for customers. In his books Service America! and The Only Thing That Matters, he developed a model of organizational improvement called Total Quality Service that is tailored to service organizations. One of the principles underlying this model is that service industries are fundamentally different from manufacturing industries. Thus, the approach to quality improvement in services should not be based on a manufacturing mentality. QMHC interviewed Karl Albrecht to catch up with his latest thinking on value creation, leadership, and innovation in health care and elsewhere.