The Quality Improvement Process

From its definition, the quality improvement process is grounded in the following basic concepts:

Identification and prioritisation of areas for improvement, based on various sources such as organization own data, research evidence, literature, national reports, reported errors and external assessment.

Accurate and reliable measurement, to understand how well the systems work, identify potential areas for improvement, set measurable objectives, and monitor the effectiveness of change.

Communication of results, in various ways, and to all parties, to enhance learning, adjust the changes, and engage employees in the change. Communication is also important to exchange ideas, disseminate good practices, and build on them to improve. When the change

Performance improvement is founded on the concept of improving human performance by systemic approach at the individual, process and organisational levels. It involves consideration of various elements that impact the individual performance such as the job description, performance expectations, feedback on performance, supportive environment, and knowledge and skills required as technical competencies to do the job. With relevance to the impact of accreditation process and how the organization can make the best of it, performance improvement also involves two important aspects which are delineated in this book: motivation and empowerment of employees to perform to expectations the working environment organized support, in terms of strategic direction, aligned personal goals to the organization goals, organisational structure, leadership and management

organisational

There is enough evidence that organisational culture plays a crucial role in understanding the ability of any organisation to perform (Gerowitz et al., 1996; Gerowitz, 1998; Jacobs et al., 2013; Taylor et al., 2015), including the relationship between organisational culture and organisational commitment (Manetje and Martins 2009). These important elements of performance improvement are addressed in accreditation standards by, for example, the specific requirements of human resources.

Culture of continuous quality improvement implies the organization-wide implementation of the principles of total quality management philosophy, approaches and tool aiming for cost effective and high quality service. This is different from the traditional quality assurance, in several aspects, among the most important is the continuous improvement focus on understanding and improving the systems and processes versus the quality control emphasis on correcting errors, and quality assurance focus on assuring things are processed according to the expected procedures or