West-Coast Health Centre: "It's About Time!"

Published 27 Aug 2010
Reference 5682
Topic Operations
Region Asia
Length 17 page(s)
Summary

A privately owned and internationally acccredited tertiary care hospital located in southern Malaysia, WHC had grown fast and won many awards for excellence since its foundation in 1990. However, in 2006 a confidential national survey revealed high levels of dissatisfation among its patients, notably concerning wait times. The case focuses on management attempts to identify the causes of this.

Teaching objectives

The case allows for an analysis and discussion of quality management and benchmarking issues in the context of a healthcare provider faced by changing industry dynamics and patients becoming more affluent and demanding. Although set in Malaysia, the issues raised are common to any health care provider.

Keywords
  • total quality management
  • benchmarking
  • customer focus
  • tertiary health care
  • business process
  • wait time
  • monitoring patient satisfaction
  • AR0910
  • AR2010
  • RD0710