Indian Institute of Health Management Research (Society) (IIHMR), Jaipur, an institution dedicated to improvement in standards of health through better management of health care and related programmes organised four-day training programme on Quality Management in Hospital and Health Care from February 20-24 at the institute.

The topics covered in the programme were: to develop an understanding of the concepts of quality and its importance in health care, to develop an understanding of standards and indicators of quality, to develop the basic skills in the assessment and measurement of quality, to learn the quality improvement process, tools and managerial skills and to develop skills in  monitoring quality of services and in planning and implementing quality assurance programmes.

The programme was designed for planners and managers of hospital and health  care organizations, researchers interested in quality of care issues and faculty of medical colleges.

Dr S D Gupta, MD, PhD (Johns Hopkins), FAMS, director, IIHMR, Jaipur said, “Quality has been the central issue and a relatively new concept in  health care. Rising expectations of people and patient safety, advances in medical and diagnostic technology, competition in the health care industry, and escalating  costs have made quality of care as important issue today. There is an extensive need for capacity building in planning, implementing and managing quality assurance in health care.”

The programme has covered the concepts and dimensions of quality, and its importance in health care, perspectives of quality of the community, clients, and health care managers, setting standards and developing indicators of quality, assessment and measurement of quality, monitoring and information system, planning for quality, identifying and defining problems; developing solutions; implementation, quality improvement tools - TQM, CQI, QA, Lean, quality management approaches, leadership and management strategies for institutionalizing the quality improvement process in public sector and NGO programmes.

Dr Santosh Kumar, PGDHM, M.Phil, PhD (BITS, Pilani), programme coordinator, associate professor, Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur and a health care quality specialist, Dr S D Gupta, MD, PhD (Johns Hopkins), FAMS, director, IIHMR, Jaipur and public health specialist, Brig. (Dr) S K Puri, VSM (Retd.), MD, dean Academics and Student Affairs, IIHMR, Jaipur and hospital management specialist, Dr P R Sodani, PhD, MPH (UNC-CH, USA), dean training, IIHMR, Jaipur and health economist
Dr Kapil Garg, PGDHM, MBBS, associate professor, IIHMR, Jaipur and hospital management specialist were present at the programme.

Dr Gupta further added, “We at IIHMR, is organizing a management development programme to cater to the needs of health care planners and managers in developing  basic competency in planning and managing quality assurance.”