Divergent sight: studies on the application of industrial quality and safety improvement methods in eye hospitals

Quality improvement in health care is an essential attribute towards maintaining quality while meeting today’s growing patient populations, budget constraints, and competitive environments. Such challenges are not exclusive to health care. Other high-risk industries aviation, for example have shown excellent approaches to focusing on quality while increasing efficiency and client-centeredness. In this thesis, studies on the application of six industrial quality and safety improvement methods in eye hospitals are described: business process reengineering, safety marking, team resource management, quality costing, value chain analysis, and benchmarking. The studies show that the application (and adaptation) of these methods can be successful and result in various positive safety and efficiency outcomes. Mirroring other industries stimulates critical reflection while catalyzing the diffusion of innovations. Health care providers are urged to have divergent views, create a data-driven culture, and cooperate with health service researchers to create an evidence-based management practice and be, in itself, a vehicle for change.