Improvement of translational and clinical research introducing quality management

Abstract

Health care is facing efficiency (quality) problems while costs are exploding. Quality management (QM) therefore becomes a major strategic challenge. Thus, the international QM system ISO9001:2000 was introduced and certified in the areas of translational medicine, clinical research and tissue banking, all promoting new and more efficient diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Various measurement tools to ensure continuous quality improvement have been established, namely a trained QM advisory board, specific quality circles, internal audits, management reviews and an external quality assurance program. Initially the implementation of a comprehensive QM system is time consuming and expensive. However, the benefits obtained in organisation, documentation, process flows and resource management are obvious all resulting in the improvement of the research quality. Ongoing in the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle will be an important approach in fund raising and patient acquisition