West Hospital

Mary C Negron Professor Murphy HCA-410 October 30, 2011 1. What were the strategic reasons behind West Florida Regional Medical Center’s (WFRMC’S) decision to invest heavily in TQM? When looking at the decision to invest heavily into total quality management (TQM), was the intense competition between WFRMC and the other two hospitals within the area of Pensacola in 1992, Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospitals. The 130 doctors practicing at the Medical Center Clinic and its satellite clinics admitted mostly to WFRMC, whereas most of the other doctors in this city of 150,000 practiced at both Scared Heart and Baptists Hospitals. At the time it was estimated that 90% to 95% of patients that would be admitted into any of the hospitals would experience discounted prices due to the competition within the area. This discount applied to mostly Medicare for the elderly, CHAMPUS for military dependents, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida for employed and their dependents. Within the area and over the past four years a trend showed success with continuous quality improvement (CQI) with areas that utilized package prices for services required. This provided the basis for TQM, which would provide ways to analyze and change processes to improve quality. Improving quality in an area of competition is important to maintain stability for a health care facility. How did the program undertaken at WFRMC reflect this strategic impetus?
1. Complete Case Study #4, p. 522. 2. Respond to questions 1 and 2 on p. 546.

Note: This case is one of a series looking at the implementation of TQM, usually called Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in health-care organizations. It is essential that you relate texbook material to oranizational application.