Benefits of an ISO 9001 certification--the case of a Swiss regional hospital.

This paper reports the experience of a quality management project leading to an ISO 9001 certification in a Swiss regional hospital. It describes the motivations for the project, the process that was followed and the benefits of the approach. It also shows its limitations, problems encountered as well as costs and resources involved. The emphasis is on practical issues. Choices that were made are discussed and lessons are drawn.