Total quality management system: its application in a community hospital research department.

Lehigh Valley Hospital initiated a program of total quality management using the model taught by Philip Crosby Associates. When the training began in the Research Department, we used the application of this model to identify, define and chart the various processes that a research project or study moves through from conception to publication. The resulting charts and process outlines enabled the Research Department personnel to recognize problem areas in the processes, and to chart the progress of a study at any given time. This provided us with both a better understanding of input and output in the research processes, and an opportunity to improve efficiency by correcting problem areas.