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Quality function deployment in healthcare: a literature review and case study
1Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
|March 29, 2013
Summary
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in healthcare offers benefits like understanding patient needs and improving processes. A Swedish hospital case study demonstrated QFD
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Quality Improvement Methodologies
- Systems Engineering in Healthcare
Background:
- Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured approach to translating customer needs into product/service design.
- Its application in healthcare is explored to enhance patient care and operational efficiency.
- Understanding customer needs is crucial for effective healthcare service design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a literature review on Quality Function Deployment (QFD) applications in healthcare.
- To present a case study of QFD implementation in a Swedish hospital.
- To provide insights for improving QFD applications within the healthcare sector.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature search using Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Web of Science.
- Keywords: "quality function deployment" and "healthcare".
- Case study within a Design for Six Sigma project involving interviews and documentation analysis.
Main Results:
- Literature review identified four potentials (e.g., understanding customer needs, process improvement) and three antecedents (e.g., customer understanding, need prioritization) of QFD in healthcare.
- Case study revealed increased awareness of complex customer needs, structured improvement strategies, and new process organization.
- Medication prescription time in cardiology decreased by over 20%, increasing doctor-patient interaction time.
Conclusions:
- QFD presents significant potentials and antecedents for successful application in healthcare settings.
- Practical insights from the hospital case study offer valuable guidance for healthcare practitioners.
- The study contributes by identifying QFD's healthcare context specifics and practical application learnings.
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