In healthcare, quality management refers to the administration of systems design, policies, and processes that minimize, if not eliminate, harm while optimizing patient care and outcomes. Whether you are a hospital with 1,000 beds or 25, the fact remain that every hospital must navigate and manage the many complexities associated with a quality management system.
Why is quality management important in healthcare? There are numerous reasons why it is important to improve quality of healthcare, including enhancing the accountability of health practitioners and managers, resource efficiency, identifying, and minimizing medical errors while maximizing the use of effective care and improving outcomes, and aligning care to what users and patients want in addition to what they need.
Hospital Quality: Implementing, Managing, and Sustaining an Effective Quality Management System demonstrates a practical approach to managing and improving quality. Whether you agree with the premise that these activities are complex, this book will outline a standardized approach that any organization can adopt to meet their needs while accommodating the foundational concepts of quality improvement by accreditation agencies. It also outlines how to set-up and manage a quality management program as a part of continuous process improvement initiative, as well as the purpose and managing of a patient safety organization.
The purpose of this book is twofold. If you're a senior healthcare manager or director tasked with setting up a quality management system, this book will provide tools and techniques you can immediately apply. If you're a healthcare professional preparing for the CPHQ certification exam, this book will take you beyond study guides by explaining what you need to know and the why behind each concept.