Relationships among Quality Constructs for Total Quality Services Management in Hospitals in India

Healthcare industry is among the most rapidly growing services industry in the world economy. The central theme of all healthcare systems is “Quality” and it needs to be managed effectively for their survival and performance excellence in today's business environment. Managers are faced with the challenges of managing quality in all clinical and non clinical areas of hospital services. Research in operationalizing the concepts of Total Quality Service Management (TQS) and implementation is limited. The study identified thirteen quality constructs critical to TQS in hospitals viz, Leadership and Management Commitment; Strategic Planning; Human Resource Management and Development; Health Care Service Design and Improvement; Process Management; Service Culture; Servicescapes; Administrative System; Measurement, Information and Analysis; Supplier Quality Management; Customer Focus & Satisfaction; Key Results; and Social Responsibility, based on literature survey. Further, relationships among 13-construct TQS framework were tested based on the ratings of quality performance on each construct in comparison to the industry best practice by 22 quality experts from multi specialty hospitals. Positive correlations indicated that TQS constructs are interrelated and that the quality management efforts should be applied in a holistic manner rather than piecemeal. Future scope of the research in the area is identified.