Total Quality Management in an Individual

Department of a Healthcare Organization:

A Proposed Framework
1 2
Nicolas Nicolaou , Giorgos Kentas
1) PhD candidate in Public Administration (Health Care Management), Assistant Program Coordinator of Master in Public Administration,
University of Nicosia, Cyprus.

2) Associate Professor of International Politics and Governance, Program Coordinator (Master Program in Public Administration),
University of Nicosia, Cyprus

Introduction improvement cycles. This process is repeated up until

Healthcare managers increasing eagerness to improve the quality
of services and satisfy customers needs, turned their attention to
Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM helps to achieve competi- 5) Procedure standardization: This stage concerns
tiveness in the healthcare sector through a quality oriented culture the standardization of the new practices and proce-
and low-cost services. In large healthcare organizations however dures.
the quality of services vary among departments. Each department
must improve the quality of services and reduce cost on an individ-
ual basis.
Aim
The aim of this work is the implementation of TQM into an individu-
al healthcare department by using the certain framework.
Method
The proposed framework of analysis is based on the European
Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), the Common As-
sessment Framework (CAF), as well as on some ISO models. Oth-
er industrial and research-based frameworks from the healthcare
sector have also been taken into account.
Data were collected and analyzed through triangulate data collec-
tion methods. Research methods include empirical observation,
interviews and secondary data analysis.
Results
structural and functional problems are solved.
Discussion
Literature review shows that many researchers and
practitioners study the concepts and the practices of
TQM, but very few TQM frameworks with specific
stages are actually pursued in practice. The proposed
framework draws on previous ones but offers a new
design that improves some limitations of organization-
al models and frameworks.
In addition, existing frameworks implement TQM mod-
els into healthcare sectors, organizations and insti-
tutes. The proposed new framework may be applied
to individual departments or clinics and helps to im-
prove quality of services and reduce cost. Such a pos-
sibility is not considered by the existing frameworks.
In a nutshell, the novelty of this study is a new cus-
tomized framework that can be utilized in accordance
with the needs of individual departments that aim at
high quality and low cost.

The proposed framework consists of 5 stages: Acknowledgements

1) Basic values of the Organization: Scrutiny of basic values in This research is partially funded by the University of
order to examine whether the department is aligned with the rest of Nicosia, Cyprus.
the organization. I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Giorgos Ken-
tas who provided insight and expertise that improved
2) Cultural change: This stage focuses on a comprehensive cul- the research.
tural change of the department from traditional (current) to a quali-
ty and patient-oriented culture.
Contact Info
3) Data collection: Empirical observation, interviews and SWOT
analysis for implementing the departments TQM. Nicolas Nicolaou
Prior to TQM implementation all relevant obstacles and factors
must be considered. Tel.: +357 99566980
Email: mpa.assistant@unic.ac.cy
4) PDSA / PDCA quality improvement cycle: Appropriate tools Research website: nnicolaou.weebly.com
and techniques are used to manage data findings through quality
Add.: 46 Makedonitissas Av.,1700 Nicosia, CYPRUS