Total Quality Control: Evolution of Quality Management Systems

An understanding of industrial total quality control and the evolutionary process experienced for quality systems in business and industry provides guidance for the development of quality management systems in health care laboratories. Quality systems in laboratories are built on quality laboratory practices, have a strong statistical process control or quality control component, and have recently been extended to include broader monitoring for quality assurance. Laboratories need to develop a well-organized quality improvement component and need to place more emphasis on quality planning. All these components, working together, provide the necessary system for quality management.