Analyze And Improve Medical Center Procurement And Quality

Analyze and Improve Medical Center Procurement and Quality Control

This activity consists of two problems. Problem One involves analyzing the defects in medical tables received from a furniture supplier, creating a Pareto Chart and a table with frequency data, and drawing conclusions about the quality of the tables. Problem Two requires creating a flowchart of the current procurement process at a medical center and proposing three improvements based on total quality management principles.

Paper For Above instruction

Problem One: Quality Analysis of Patient Tables

In the scenario presented, the Forest Medical Center received 312 side tables from Quick-and-Cheap Furniture. Upon inspection, various defects were identified. These defects included dirt in the paint, off-color, orange peel, other defects, sadness look, scratches, sealer under, and thin paint. To assess the quality issue systematically, it is essential to analyze the frequency of each defect and identify the most common causes of quality failure.

Creating a Pareto Chart is an effective way to visualize which defects are most prevalent. The Pareto principle suggests that a majority of problems are usually caused by a few key issues. By plotting the frequency of each defect in descending order, we can determine which defect types require immediate corrective action. The process involves ranking the defects according to their occurrence, calculating their cumulative frequency, and expressing these as percentages of the total defects.

Constructing a detailed table involves listing each defect, its frequency, the cumulative frequency, the percentage of total defects it represents, and the cumulative percentage. The following data summarizes the defects observed:

• Dirt in paint: 65 occurrences
• Off-color: 17 occurrences
• Orange peel: 12 occurrences
• Other: 1 occurrence
• Sad looking: 4 occurrences
• Scratch: 11 occurrences
• Sealer under: 8 occurrences
• Thin paint: 31 occurrences

Using this data, a Pareto chart can be constructed to prioritize quality improvement. It would reveal that dirt in paint and thin paint are the most frequent issues, indicating potentially problems in the painting process or the vendor’s quality controls.

From this analysis, two key conclusions emerge: First, the primary problems with the tables are dirt in the paint and thin paint, which together account for a significant proportion of defects. Second, there is a need for closer quality control during the painting process, possibly specifying stricter vendor quality assurance or adopting more rigorous inspection standards before shipping.

Problem Two: Procurement Process Flowchart and Improvements

The Lake Luna Medical Center (LLMC) procurement process involves a series of steps from requisition to payment. The current process begins with an employee submitting a requisition, which is then checked by the department secretary for completeness. If the requisition passes this initial review, it proceeds to the department head for approval after verifying appropriateness and budget availability. Once approved, the request moves to the procurement team, which checks whether the vendor is on the approved list, and whether quotes are needed, followed by vendor negotiations, order placement, and logging transactions.

Developing an accurate flowchart entails charting these steps and decisions, illustrating the flow of the process and identifying possible redundancies and delays. For example, the review process between the secretary and employee could be streamlined, or the vendor selection process could be more automated to reduce manual checks.

Based on total quality management (TQM) principles, three suggestions to improve this process include:

1. Standardize and automate requisition checks: Implement an electronic requisition system with embedded validation rules, reducing manual errors and processing time.
2. Vendor management enhancements: Develop a preferred vendor pool and automate vendor approval checks, ensuring quicker validation and reducing back-and-forth communication.
3. Implement continuous process improvement practices: Regularly review procurement cycle times and error rates, applying lean principles to remove redundancies and optimize the workflow.

Conclusion

In summary, the quality issues observed in the patient tables at Forest Medical Center can be effectively analyzed using Pareto Charts, enabling targeted quality improvement efforts. The procurement process at Lake Luna Medical Center can be optimized through process mapping and the application of TQM principles, leading to reduced cycle times, fewer errors, and improved overall efficiency. These improvements are vital in maintaining high standards of patient care and operational excellence in healthcare environments.

References

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