Critical to quality in telemedicine service management: application of DFSS (Design For Six Sigma) and SERVQUAL.

Yun EK; Chun KM

* Telemedicine generally refers to the use of communications and information technologies for the delivery of health care.* However, telemedicine is not merely a simple combination of health care and technology.* The researchers propose a systematic approach for assessing needs of telemedicine customers, called critical-to-quality (CTQ) in Six Sigma, with a purpose of continuous quality improvement.* The combination approach using DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) and SERVQUAL (Service Quality Framework) was applied to define the critical quality attributes of telemedicine service management and to match them with the current telemedicine process.* With a step-by-step procedure, telemedicine service process was reviewed and all the important CTQ candidates identified via a case study.* The findings suggest that nurses need further understanding and research methods that will improve and manage the quality of health care service in various medical fields.

Nursing Economic$, 2008, Vol 26, Issue 6, p384

0746-1739

Academic Journal