Quality Assurance Management Research Articles

Expansion of the concept apparatus for innovative quality assurance of organization management

Expansion of the concept apparatus for innovative quality assurance of organization management

Information support for quality management of education in general educational institutions of Ukraine

The article presents the research findings received throughout the study in the general secondary educational institutions in Ukraine. The processes of creation, receipt, processing and submission of information to the end consumer are substantiated and practically verified, namely, the system of information quality assurance of education quality management in the general educational institution is methodologically substantiated. Questionnaires were developed and conducted for GEI executives and administrative and management staff who are the part of the methodology for studying the state of the informational support for the quality management of education at GEI. It is established that not only the knowledge of the external information content, which is necessary for the implementation of the cycle of the educational quality management in the educational institution, but also the sources of its receipt and creation is of great importance for the heads of the general educational institutions.

A comparative study of the health care systems of Canada and Saudi Arabia: lessons and insights

Understanding the structure of a health care system is essential in improving public health policies and health outcomes. To describe and compare the health care systems of Canada and Saudi Arabia; to discuss possible lessons that could be learned from both for policy-making purposes. A comprehensive method was used to describe the national health care systems of both countries. For each country, the system is described by: context, ownership, delivery, financing, organisational structure, target groups, and comprehensiveness of services. In Canada, the Medicare system provides comprehensive medical services except for dental, optometric, chiropractic, pharmacologic and home care services. The dental care system is financed privately (94%) and is owned and delivered by private for-profit dental practitioners. In Saudi Arabia, the government sector is owned, delivered, and financed by the government and provides free comprehensive medical and dental services. The same services are provided by the private sector, but under governmental supervision. Among the relevant lessons: access to care, accountability, quality assurance, mix and reimbursement of providers. Canada can learn about different approaches to socialising the dental care system. Saudi Arabia can improve the implementation of quality assurance practices and management.

DIGITAL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – CHANGE THE EDUCATION SYSTEM APPROACH TO MEET THE 21ST CENTURY NEEDS

Technologies appear because of the quality of the education and research process, and human intelligence completes a successful future. The latest events of 2020 have shown us the benefits of technologies created by scientists, in the innovative approach to university education - the transition from teaching and conventional research to the digital campus, through EdTech. Actual movements in socio-economic life around the world impose e-learning and e-presence. However, moving digital is more than online teaching. Present research analysis was conducted on two different types of institutions: public and private universities from Europe, with different teaching and learning system: American and European. Information was congregated through face-to-face and online interaction with representative people from universities. The present research paper aims to demonstrate how a digital campus, with all its aspects, can perform a crucial role in enriching the university campus’s structure and culture to ensure the quality assurance of teaching, research, and administrative management using actual innovative technologies.
 
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Routine health information system in the health facilities in Yaound\xe9\u2013Cameroon: assessing the gaps for strengthening

BackgroundManagement of health data and its use for informed-decision making is a challenging health sector aspect in developing countries. Monitoring and evaluation of health interventions for meeting health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Cameroon Health Sector Strategy (HSS) targets is facilitated through evidence-based decision-making and public health action. Thus, a routine health information system (RHIS) producing quality data is imperative. The objective of this study was to assess the RHIS in the health facilities (HFs) in Yaoundé in order to identify gaps and weaknesses and to propose measures for strengthening.MethodsA health facility-based cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the six health districts (HDs) of Yaoundé; followed by a qualitative aspect consisting of in-depth interviews of key informants at the Regional Health Office. HFs were selected using a stratified sampling method with probability proportional to the size of each HD. Data were collected (one respondent per HF) using the World Health Organization and MEASURE Evaluation RHIS rapid assessment tool. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel 2013 and analyzed with IBM-SPSS version 20.ResultsA total of 111 HFs were selected for the study. Respondents aged 24–60 years with an average of 38.3 ± 9.3 years; 58 (52.3%) male and 53(47.7%) female. Heads of HFs and persons in charge of statistics/data management were most represented with 45.0% and 21.6% respectively. All the twelve subdomains of the RHIS were adequately functioning at between 7 and 30%. These included Human Resources (7%), Data Analysis (10%), Information and Communication Technology (11%), Standards and System Design (15%), Policies and Planning (15%), Information Dissemination (16%), Data Demand and Use (16%), Management (18%), Data Needs (18%), Data Quality Assurance (20%), Collection and Management of Individual Client Data (26%), Collection, Management, and Reporting of Aggregated Facility Data (30%).ConclusionsThe level of functioning of subdomains of the RHIS in Yaoundé was low; thus, immediate and district-specific strengthening actions should be implemented if health-related SDGs and HSS targets are to be met. A nation-wide assessment should be carried out in order to understand the determinants of these poor performances and to strengthen the RHIS.

Students’ Participation in Quality Assurance Management and Tertiary Institutions Effectiveness in Nigeria

The study investigated the level of students’ participation in quality assurance management and tertiary institutions effectiveness in Nigeria. Four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The design adopted was correlational research design. The population was made up of 423 2018/2019 session students’ union officials. A sample of 160 was randomly selected from three (University of Calabar, Cross River University of Technology and Federal College of Education, Obudu) public tertiary institutions in the area. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire (Students’ Participation in Quality Assurance Management Questionnaire (SPQAMQ) validated by experts in test and measurement. It contained 28 items constructed in a 4-point Likert scale. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics was used for data analysis. The result of the analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between students’ participation in decision-making, discipline management, quality assurance committees and school plant maintenance and tertiary institution management when tested at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the findings it was recommended that students should be adequately motivated through quality participation in school governance to enhance their academic achievement and development of basic leadership skills.

Education Quality Assurance Management in the Faculty of Health Science, Singaperbangsa Karawang University

This research was conducted at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Singaperbangsa Karawang University, and aims to describe the depth of Education Quality Management at the Faculty with a focus on planning, organizing, and monitoring. The research method used is qualitative with descriptive methods. Data was collected through observation, interviews, and documentation studies. Sources of data came from several key informants, namely the Gugus Jaminan Mutu (GJM), the Gugus Kendali Mutu (GKM) and the Badan Penjaminan Mutu (BPM). The results of this study indicate planning should include analysis of the needs of each study program with communication, consultation and coordination, building teams, evaluating and revising quality standards on an ongoing basis in the implementation of activities which are then approved by the Vice Dean I. The next step is organizing the process by reviewing the rules, determining the organizational structure and job descriptions, asking each study program to determine and assign personnel. Finally, supervision requires the implementation of the academic quality assurance system and the evaluation of this system via various measures.
 Keywords: quality management, planning, supervision

Real-world use of key performance indicators for point-of-Care Testing network accredited by ISO 22870

ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the results of key performance indicators (KPIs) for a period of over three years, as well as their effectiveness as an improvement tool, to provide information about Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) management system performance and quality assurance. Design and methodsKPIs regarding the global POCT process, extra-analytical phase, quality assurance and staff training and competency were evaluated for blood gases, HbA1c, sweat test and non-connected and connected glucose in an ISO 22870 accredited network. We established the definition of every KPI and its corresponding target. The results of KPIs from all clinical settings were appraised every month during the study period, taking corrective actions when necessary. ResultsAnnual global results were generally acceptable. However, some clinical areas displayed deviations in specific months. The monitoring of these KPIs allowed us to detect the deviations immediately and identify their causes. These included errors in patient identification, consumables, strips, reagents, analyzers, calibration, internal and external quality control, sample management, connectivity, and operator identification strategy, among others. ConclusionsThe evaluation of these KPIs over time has shown their appropriateness. This set of quality indicators could be a useful tool for laboratory medicine leading POCT networks for better and safer patient care.

Reporting quality of polycystic ovary syndrome practice guidelines based on the RIGHT checklist.

Background:Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine disorder involving hyperandrogenism, menstrual disorder, metabolic problems, infertility, obesity, and acne. The main aim of this study was to assess the reporting quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in the field of PCOS to provide a reporting specification for this study.Methods:We evaluated the reporting quality of clinical guidelines of PCOS using the Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in HealThcare (RIGHT) checklist. Nine databases and 3 medical associations were searched. These included Medline, Embase, PubMed, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Guidelines International Network (GIN), National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC), China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and Chinese Science, and Technology Journal Database (VIP). Three medical associations included the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Two independent authors assessed the reporting quality of PCOS CPGs by the RIGHT checklist, and Spearman's correlation was used to assess inter-rater reliability.Results:Twelve PCOS CPGs were included. On average, 20.0 (57.1%) of the 35 items in the RIGHT checklist were reported. All items were fully reported by one of these CPGs. The number of reported items ranged from 10 (28.6%) to 35 (100%). Overall, 16.7%, 66.7%, and 16.7% of included guidelines were of high, medium, and low quality, respectively. The reporting proportions of the 7 domains (i.e., Basic information, Background, Evidence, Recommendations, Reviewand quality assurance, Funding and declaration and management of interests, and Other information) in the RIGHT checklist were 62.0%, 69.1%, 53.3%, 60.7%, 33.3%, 31.2%, and 69.4%, respectively.Conclusions:The evaluation of these CPGs by the RIGHT checklist revealed that the reporting quality varied among guidelines. Low quality items were the processes of evidence decision and the declaration of funding in most included CPGs. Guideline developers should pay more attention to these items to disseminate and implement better guidelines in near future.Trial registration number:registration at PROSPERO CRD42020163435

Evaluating the relationship between the course experience questionnaire and student satisfaction: A case from India

Appraising and improving the quality of teaching is a central issue all over the world. Using the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), the current study examined the relationship between teaching quality dimensions and student satisfaction. The study evaluates the post‐graduate students' perception of teaching quality and its relation with overall student satisfaction in context to state public universities of Punjab, India. Data were collected from 348 post‐graduate in management students. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to evaluate the measurement model, and a further Structured Equation Model was applied to test the proposed research hypotheses. The results reveal that clear goals and standards, generic skills, and appropriate assessment have a direct impact on the overall student satisfaction, whereas appropriate workload and good teaching skills have an indirect effect on the overall satisfaction. The female structural model replicated the findings of the overall model and showed that generic skills and clear goals are more important in student satisfaction. In contrast, the male structural model was quite different; only appropriate assessment has a direct impact on student satisfaction. Several implications for the improvement of post‐graduate management teaching quality and quality assurance in terms of lecture delivery and course planning in‐state public universities of India were further discussed.

Guideline on diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of laryngeal cancer

The German S3 guideline on diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of laryngeal cancer was developed in 2019 as part of the oncology guideline program of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften, AWMF) of the German Cancer Society (Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft, DKG) and German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe, DKH), published under the leadership of the German Society for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. The guideline was funded by DKH as part of the oncology guideline program. Since guidelines are an important tool for quality assurance and quality management in oncology, they should be incorporated into everyday care in atargeted and sustainable manner. The guideline should generally fulfil the interdisciplinary character of early diagnosis, diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up, with the aim of developing evidence- and consensus-based recommendations and statements for treatment of laryngeal cancer with the aim of organ preservation, but also show their limits. The main recommendations of the original text are summarized. The guideline is available as along and ashort version in the guideline program of the DKG ( https://www.leitlinienprogramm-onkologie.de/leitlinien/larynxkarzinom/ ) and also as an app ( https://www.leitlinienprogramm-onkologie.de/app/ ).

Challenges of managing quality assurance activities as panacea for the transformation of practicing facility management during pandemic occurrences

Challenges of managing quality assurance activities as panacea for the transformation of practicing facility management during pandemic occurrences

Penyusunan Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Pada Dinas Pendidikan Kabupaten Bengkayang Dalam Rangka Peningkatan Mutu Manajemen Organisasi

This study aims to prepare SOP for organizational management at Bengkayang Regency Education Office. This research is a qualitative descriptive study with the following steps: (1) preliminary study, (2) planning, and (3) implementation. The subject of this research is Bengkayang Regency Education Office. The data collection techniques used were interviews and observation. The results of interviews and observations were analyzed by reducing data, presenting data, and drawing conclusions. The results of the preliminary study show that the Bengkayang Regency Education Office does not yet have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for organizational management. SOP preparation is carried out by making field notes on mentoring activities and compiling SOP formats. Meanwhile, the implementation of SOP preparation assistance is carried out in six stages, namely the preparation stage, the formation of an implementation team, planning, drafting, testing SOP drafts, and implementing SOP. SOP is needed to regulate quality assurance of organizational management.

Quality Assurance of Higher Education Governance and Management: An Exploration of the Minimum Imperative for the Envisioned African Common Higher Education Space

In 2018, as part of the African higher education harmonisation drive, the African Union Commission (AUC) issued the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASG-QA). Within the ASG-QA, the AUC commits to promoting good governance and management in higher education institutions and provides governance and management as the second standard. However, there is a dearth of knowledge about the governance and management architecture for higher education institutions in the African higher education landscape that is either implicit or explicit in the ASG-QA. Against the above backdrop—using the ASG-QA as a source of data and content analysis as a data analysis method—the paper examines the governance and management imperative for higher education institutions in the African higher education landscape from the perspective of the AUC. Six themes relating to Africa’s higher education governance and management landscape emerged from the data: the role of the state (or government) in higher education, the internal governance framework, focus on quality and quality enhancement, observance of values of higher education, adherence to the principles of good governance, and capable leadership. The findings suggest that the governance and management architecture under the ASG-QA leans more towards providing common standards for quality assessment of governance and management than creating an identical national higher education governance and management ecosystem across Africa.

Quality assurance in Vietnam’s higher education: Insights into past and present challenges

Vietnam higher education has attempted innovations in increased efforts to integrate well into the world’s education. One of the most prominent innovative activities is quality assurance. Adopting a historical approach, this paper presents the Vietnam higher education quality assurance renovating process including three phases: the centrally planned economy period (1954–1986), the reform period (1986–2000) and the international integration period (2000–2017). At each stage, it is referred to the perspective, the system, the mechanism, and the achievements of Vietnam higher education quality assurance. By taking a historical stance, the paper presented the continued advance of higher education management, the role and significance of quality assurance as an integration commitment of Vietnam education in the context of globalization.

Guideline on diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of laryngeal cancer

The German S3 guideline on diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of laryngeal cancer was developed in 2019 as part of the oncology guideline program of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften, AWMF) of the German Cancer Society (Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft, DKG) and German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe, DKH), published under the leadership of the German Society for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. The guideline was funded by DKH as part of the oncology guideline program. Since guidelines are an important tool for quality assurance and quality management in oncology, they should be incorporated into everyday care in atargeted and sustainable manner. The guideline should generally fulfil the interdisciplinary character of early diagnosis, diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up, with the aim of developing evidence- and consensus-based recommendations and statements for treatment of laryngeal cancer with the aim of organ preservation, but also show their limits. The main recommendations of the original text are summarized. The guideline is available as along and ashort version in the guideline program of the DKG ( https://www.leitlinienprogramm-onkologie.de/leitlinien/larynxkarzinom/ ) and also as an app ( https://www.leitlinienprogramm-onkologie.de/app/ ).

Quality assurance in Vietnam’s higher education: Insights into past and present challenges

Vietnam higher education has attempted innovations in increased efforts to integrate well into the world’s education. One of the most prominent innovative activities is quality assurance. Adopting a historical approach, this paper presents the Vietnam higher education quality assurance renovating process including three phases: the centrally planned economy period (1954–1986), the reform period (1986–2000) and the international integration period (2000–2017). At each stage, it is referred to the perspective, the system, the mechanism, and the achievements of Vietnam higher education quality assurance. By taking a historical stance, the paper presented the continued advance of higher education management, the role and significance of quality assurance as an integration commitment of Vietnam education in the context of globalization.

Quality Management Practices and Competitiveness of Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to establish the influence of quality management practices on competitiveness of manufacturing firms in Nairobi.Methodology: The research adopted a descriptive survey research design in trying to focus on manufacturing firms operating in Nairobi. This study used the list of manufacturing firms in Nairobi as provided in the KAM directory that showed a total of 499 manufacturing firms operating in Nairobi. The research study used stratified random sampling. The sample size of the research study was 50 manufacturing firms. The data was collected by use of structured questionnaires. It was done from operations managers, quality assurance managers and supply chain managers or their equivalents since they were deemed to be well versed and had good understanding of strategic quality management practices and operational activities of manufacturing firms. The information from the analysis was presented by use of pie charts, graphs, bar charts and tables to search for any correlation between strategic quality management practices and firms’ competitiveness.Results and conclusion: The results revealed that bench marking and competitiveness were positively and significantly correlated (r=0.578, p=0.000). The results further showed that continuous improvement and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.620, p=0.000). It was additionally verified that supplier partnering and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.510, p=0.000). Equally, the results showed that six sigma and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.529, p=0.000). Finally, the results revealed that quality management practices and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.642, p=0.000). The results indicated that the overall model was statistically significant. Further, the results imply that the independent variables are good predictors of firm competitiveness. This was reinforced by an F statistic of 21.769 and the reported p value (0.000) which was less than the conventional probability of 0.05 significance level. Policy recommendation: The author recommended that manufacturing firms should institute and involve the support of strategic leadership to monitor the adoption and implementation of quality management practices as a way of improving their competitiveness in their respective industries. Further, firms should come up with as many benchmarking approaches and to also hold several of them so as to increase on adoption of effective mechanism that makes firms more competitive

Quality Management Practices and Competitiveness of Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to establish the influence of quality management practices on competitiveness of manufacturing firms in Nairobi.Methodology: The research adopted a descriptive survey research design in trying to focus on manufacturing firms operating in Nairobi. This study used the list of manufacturing firms in Nairobi as provided in the KAM directory that showed a total of 499 manufacturing firms operating in Nairobi. The research study used stratified random sampling. The sample size of the research study was 50 manufacturing firms. The data was collected by use of structured questionnaires. It was done from operations managers, quality assurance managers and supply chain managers or their equivalents since they were deemed to be well versed and had good understanding of strategic quality management practices and operational activities of manufacturing firms. The information from the analysis was presented by use of pie charts, graphs, bar charts and tables to search for any correlation between strategic quality management practices and firms’ competitiveness.Results and conclusion: The results revealed that bench marking and competitiveness were positively and significantly correlated (r=0.578, p=0.000). The results further showed that continuous improvement and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.620, p=0.000). It was additionally verified that supplier partnering and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.510, p=0.000). Equally, the results showed that six sigma and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.529, p=0.000). Finally, the results revealed that quality management practices and competitiveness were positively and significantly related (r=0.642, p=0.000). The results indicated that the overall model was statistically significant. Further, the results imply that the independent variables are good predictors of firm competitiveness. This was reinforced by an F statistic of 21.769 and the reported p value (0.000) which was less than the conventional probability of 0.05 significance level. Policy recommendation: The author recommended that manufacturing firms should institute and involve the support of strategic leadership to monitor the adoption and implementation of quality management practices as a way of improving their competitiveness in their respective industries. Further, firms should come up with as many benchmarking approaches and to also hold several of them so as to increase on adoption of effective mechanism that makes firms more competitive

Automated test systems test program software — making the invisible visible

In Test Systems Test Program Software-The Invisible Technology we indicated that the amount of work associated to Test Program Set (TPS) development, maintenance, and migration in the Department of Defense (DOD) has grown significantly [1]. In the paper, we proposed a model for a TPS developer's certification plan, training program, and Quality Assurance management plan. This paper is a continuation of that original work. It will take a deeper look into one area: TPS Quality Assurance. Development of successful test program sets for Automated Test Systems (ATS) is enhanced by timely application of proven management procedures such as quality control plans, design reviews, change control procedures. It is also enhanced by controls over cost, schedule, development, deployment, and end item configuration. This paper is devoted to a general discussion of management and technical procedures, plans, tests, and reports that are applicable to assuring quality throughout development and delivery of the TPS.