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