International journal of health care quality assurance
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Int J Health Care Qual Assur · Jan 2016
ReviewCombined quality function deployment and logical framework analysis to improve quality of emergency care in Malta.
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated patient-focused analytical framework to improve quality of care in accident and emergency (A & E) unit of a Maltese hospital. ⋯ Although QFD has been extensively deployed in healthcare setup to improve quality of care, very little has been researched on combining QFD and LFA in order to identify issues, prioritise them, derive improvement measures and implement improvement projects. Additionally, there is no research on QFD application in A & E. This paper bridges these gaps. Moreover, very little has been written on the Maltese health care system. Therefore, this study contributes demonstration of quality of emergency care in Malta.
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A significant proportion of veterans use dual care or health care services within and outside the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In this study conducted at a VHA medical center in the USA, the authors used Lean Six Sigma principles to develop recommendations to eliminate wasteful processes and implement a more efficient and effective process to manage medications for dual care veteran patients. The purpose of this study is to: assess compliance with the VHA's dual care policy; collect data and describe the current process for co-management of dual care veterans' medications; and draft recommendations to improve the current process for dual care medications co-management. ⋯ The findings of this project will be of value to VA providers and policy makers and health care managers who plan to apply Lean Six Sigma techniques in their organizations to improve the quality of care for their patients.
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Int J Health Care Qual Assur · Jan 2016
Improving healthcare practice behaviors: an exploratory study identifying effective and ineffective behaviors in healthcare.
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of exploratory research designed to develop an awareness of healthcare behaviors, with a view toward improving the customer satisfaction with healthcare services. It examines the relationship between healthcare providers and their consumers/patients/clients. ⋯ Berry (1999) has argued that the overriding importance in building a lasting service business is human values. This exploratory study has shown how critical incident analysis can be used to determine both effective and ineffective practices of different medical providers. It also provides guidelines as to what are effective and ineffective behaviors in healthcare.