Sense and nonsense of laboratory accreditation

An open mind is essential for the implementation and improvement of total q uality management. Leadership, as such, is of no value without a vision con cerning corporate culture and human resources. Therefore, constant communic ation between partners within a corporate body is the cornerstone for empow erment. The evaluation of ideas and complaints is considered to be essentia l for the identification of strengths and weaknesses of a system, whereas, competition and benchmarking may reveal surprising opportunities for improv ement. We discuss the idea that customer-oriented efficiency in a hospital environment may be classified as a critical success factor.