Benefit and cost of a self-assessment based on the KTQ-model

All hospitals in Germany have to implement a total quality management (TQM) in order to comply with the recently modified laws ( 135, 137 SGB V). Ther e is ongoing debate what model should be used (e.g. DIN EN ISO 9000 ff., EF QM, or KTQ) and which strategy might prove successful. Our institute participated in a self-assessment according to the KTQ-model that has been developed for the use in health care systems. Despite an extr emely narrow time schedule of only six weeks the project was successfully c ompleted. Eleven people were able to collect and process the data required for the criteria catalogue of the KTQ model. A total time of 511 hours was spent during this project, which is equivalent to 1 day per person and KTQ category. The total cost of the self-assessment were estimated as 18,000 is an element of. The data collected has been summarized in a report that wil l serve to identify future projects and steps in order to implement TQM.