The medical software quality deployment method

The objective of this study was to develop a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) model for design of information systems in health-care environments. Consecutive blocked-subject case studies were conducted, based on action research methods.

Starting with a QFD model for software development, a model for information system design, the Medical Software Quality Deployment (MSQD) model, was developed. The MSQD model was divided into the pre-study phase, in which the customer categories and their power to influence the design are determined; the data collection phase, in which the voice of customers (VoC) is identified by observations and interviews and quantified by Critical. Incident questionnaires; the need specification phase, where the VoC is specified into ranked customer needs; and the design phase where the customer needs are transformed stepwise to technical requirements and design attributes. QFD showed to be useful for integrating the values of different customer categories in software development for health-care settings. In the later design phases, other quality methods should be used for software implementation and testing.