Implementing total quality management (TQM) in health-care laboratories.

Health-care organizations are beginning to apply the principles of total quality management (TQM). Implementing TQM in a health-care laboratory requires incorporating quality improvement (QI) and quality planning (QP) with quality laboratory practices (QLP), quality control (QC), and quality assurance (QA) to provide a complete quality management system. QI and QP can be initiated by developing a strategic plan as a pilot QI project. QI project teams are then introduced to accomplish the highest priority goals. This implementation approach improves strategic planning by using group problem-solving tools and techniques, such as process flow charts, brainstorming, nominal group, fishbone diagrams, consensus decision making, and Pareto analysis. The approach also improves the success of project teams by providing a clear management agenda and a commitment to project-by-project QI.