SWOT Analysis for Quality Improvement Projects
Although quality improvements have become widespread in healthcare providers, the levels of success vary significantly (Kaplan, Provost, Froehle, and Margolis, 2012). When an organization wants to identify what it needs in order to improve its quality it has to carry out SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis is simple and faster instrument which can be adapted as a tool to identify factors which impact activities in an organization and also give solutions to aid in formulating the organization’s future strategy. For service-oriented organizations, quality means a comparison between the services offered by the organization and the customers’ expectations (Dana, 2012). The first stage is to identify indicators of quality management and perform a SWOT analysis with respect to each indicator. These indicators include tangibles (neatness of personnel and cleanliness of facilities), convenience (location of service center), reliability (level of fixing problems), responsiveness (willingness of service personnel to answer questions), time (lengths taken by customers to be served), assurance (knowledgeable service personnel), and courtesy (friendliness and courteousness of customer service personnel). The next step is to identify the current strength and weaknesses in the organization. Then the current opportunities and threats impacting on the various activities in the organization are identified. Once the SWOT analysis is concluded, corrective actions are instituted and made part of the future strategic plans of the organization.
Assessing and Evaluating Quality Improvement Projects.
Several approaches of assessing and evaluating projects have been identified. This include process monitoring, process evaluation, outcome monitoring, outcome evaluation, impact evaluation, return on investment, and cost effectiveness and cost benefit analysis. The methods used in these approaches include surveys, interviews, focus groups, pre and post-tests, observation/field notes, case studies, and document review among others (Thomas, Corso, and Pietz, 2013). Getting a good material to use for assessing and evaluating projects involves using reliable materials generated from interviews, surveys, case studies, and observations/field notes. In the context of quality improvement projects, assessments of both process and outcome is very important since one will be in a position to get the overall picture of the project/program. Processes determine the nature of the outcome. This suggest outcome assessment should not be done at the expense of process assessment. Process assessment helps the relevant parties to understand how the impact or outcome was achieved. Process assessment involves key issues such as quantity and types of services delivered, service beneficiaries, resources employed in delivering the services, problems encountered while delivering the service, and the manner in which the problems were solved (Linnel, 2015). An organization intending to improve the service outcomes would fix problems identified in the process assessment. Process assessment should therefore be given more emphasis than outcome assessment.
References
Dana, B.G. (2012). SWOT analysis to improve quality management production. Elsevier, 62, 319 – 324
Kaplan, H. C., Provost, L. P., Froehle, C. M., & Margolis, P. A. (2012). The Model for Understanding Success in Quality (MUSIQ): building a theory of context in healthcare quality improvement. BMJ quality & safety, 21(1), 13-20.
Linnel, D. (2015). Process Evaluation vs. Outcome Evaluation. Retrieved from: http://tsne.org/process-evaluation-vs-outcome-evaluation
Thomas, C., Corso, L., & Pietz, H. (2-13). Evaluation, Performance Management, and Quality Improvement: Understanding the Role They Play to Improve Public Health. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/std/products/progevalwebinar-slides.pdf
