Assessing the Impact of Continuous Quality Improvement/Total Quality Management: Concept versus Implementation.
Objective. This study examines the relationships among organizational culture, quality improvement processes and selected outcomes for a sample of up to 61 U. S. hospitals.
Data Sources and Study Setting. Primary data were collected from 61 U.S. hospitals Oocated primarily in the midwest and the west) on measures related to continuous quality improvement/total quality management (CQl/TQM), organizational culture, implementation approaches, and degree of quality improvement implementation based on the Baldrige Award criteria. These data were combined with independently collected data on perceived impact and objective measures of clinical efficiency (i.e., charges and length of stay) for six clinical conditions.
Study Design. The study involved cross-sectional examination of the named relationships.