Quality Improvement in Organizations

As organizations continue to grow, they keep adjusting their systems to improve the quality of their services. In healthcare, the facilities change to help improve the patient experience and quality. The performance of healthcare facilities is based on the decisions that the management takes to improve the quality (Buckman & Buckman, 2012). The case study in the research involves the actions that Mayo Clinic’s management followed through for the success of the healthcare facility. There are several processes that a company goes through to help improve the quality; the changes applied need to be carried out through the different departments within the institution (Ransom et al., 2014). The staff also needs to be informed of the changes, and they also need to undergo training to adjust to these changes.

Internal Changes and Learning about the Competitors

In Quality Improvement, an organization needs to understand how its competitors perform. The process is achieved through studying how other institutions offered their services to their customers. After studying how other institutions perform, an organization will have to create its Value Creation System. For example, in Mayo Clinic studied how the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) was successful in conducting its research (Buckman & Buckman, 2012). With quality improvement, if a healthcare facility has several outlets, it needs to focus on improving all of them without focusing on only individual ones.

Success in quality improvement in an organization relies on the employees' perception of the changes. The employees will need to be briefed on the company's changes and informed of the benefits (Mannion & Davies, 2018). When the employees understand the benefits that are likely to be experienced, it will psychologically prepare them for the changes they encounter when the process begins. The changes that need to be carried out while performing quality management need to be done on both the professionals and the support staff in the organization (Ransom et al., 2014). When Mayo Clinic was introducing its quality improvement techniques, it had previously focused on professional interdependence. They realized that they needed to incorporate both the physician and the support staff improvement. When the staff productivity was improved, that would translate to overall quality improvement in the facility.

Quality improvement requires an adjustment of the existing systems. Improving them needs the involvement of the staff in the various departments. The staff is always encouraged to communicate when they have feedback about the facility (Ransom et al., 2014). The feedback is useful since it is considered when the management makes decisions on the changes that need to be made. An organization needs to design the new processes that need to be adhered to and then create control measures (Islam & Li, 2019). The adjustment in the operations will require the use of new tools that will help sustain the changes effectively. Operations improvement also requires an efficient communication channel. The reliable channel will ensure that information is easily passed across the various departments.

Effective quality improvement requires the organization to be transparent about its operations. Transparency helps build trust among the employees, the clients, and the stakeholders (Buckman & Buckman, 2012). Transparency will require the organization to inform the people involved, both the good and the bad, about it, and then the people will have to make informed choices about the organization. The information is published on various platforms, and the stakeholders can easily access it.

Overcoming Challenges in the Transition Phase

As an organization adjusts to focus on quality improvement, it is likely to encounter some difficulties in the transition stage. The challenges include changing the mindset of the overall staff members and adapting to new technology (Ransom et al., 2014). The staff can be taken through some counseling to prepare them for the new changes. They can also go through training to help them handle the changes in technology. Thorough preparation will help them not experience shock when practicing the new changes (Buckman & Buckman, 2012). For example, as the Mayo Clinic was transitioning to quality improvement, it carried out a self-examination that helped it understand its weaknesses. Knowing the weaknesses helps one to narrow down on the areas that they need to focus on for self-improvement.

Conclusion

Since the 1990s, most healthcare facilities have been involved in quality improvement. With the improvement, they focus on offering the patients better services at affordable costs. There are several processes that an organization may follow to achieve quality improvement. First, the company can benchmark from other healthcare facilities to understand how they carry out their processes. After benchmarking, they can then employ the appropriate changes in the company to make it more efficient.

The organization will also need to brief the employees on the changes that will occur. The employees can also be taken to some training to prepare them for the system adjustments. Also, briefing the employees will be beneficial. It will help to change their perceptions of the changes. Since the organization will improve the quality of the services offered, it will likely include more technological changes. Also, the staff will need to be trained on how to use the new technological system.

Quality improvement requires the organization to become transparent to the stakeholders. Transparency helps people to trust the organization. As the company goes through the transformations, it is likely to encounter some challenges. However, the challenges can be overcome through proper training and counseling of the staff.