How to implement a Quality Management System in healthcare?

Implementation of a digital quality management system leads to a new way of working. This may hamper acceptance by the employees. There are, however, a few steps/matters that will contribute to a successful implementation.

Involving employees in decision-making plus sharing results and outcomes are key factors in enhancing acceptance and the use of quality management software.

Project team

Setting up a project team is an important first step. The main stakeholders should form part of this team. They communicate on behalf of their colleagues and can share their ideas as to what requirements the software should meet. This is where commitment starts. When you do not set up a project team or if you do not do this rigorously enough, you already start at a disadvantage at the implementation stage.

>> This blog describes all the key roles in the project team.

Trainings

Committees are first introduced to the software when they are trained in the use of the software. During the training it is important to explain why the digital management system was purchased. The importance of patient safety should be included in this respect. Employees will start considering the quality management system as a means to make care safer instead of it being an additional administrative burden.

Dashboards

It stimulates to share (the first) results with the organisation. You may, for example, put up dashboards in theatre or the staffroom. This increases awareness and encourages reporting. Do you want to create awareness for a certain topic? Select a different topic each month for people to report on and show the results on the dashboards. This may, for example, include topics like falls or medication safety.

Sharing results

Dashboards do not only provide insight into the number of reports, but they can also be used to share improvement actions. This way, departments can share improvement actions with each other and thus promote the organisation’s ability to learn from organization-wide quality improvements. 

>> Check our special quality topic page with 7 important aspects of quality management.

How to make the business case for a quality management system?

Is your organisation about to transition from a paper-based to a digital workplace? Or does the organisation already have a digital quality management system, but wants to replace it? In both cases it is advisable to develop a business case. 

The business case describes the purpose of the project and provides insight into costs and benefits. A clear business case ensures involvement and improves the chances of successful implementation.

Do you want to know more about writing a business case for a digital quality management system? Download the eBook ‘Digital Quality Management System, the internal business case’.