Desenzano Hospital Launches ISO 9000 Quality Certification Project
In response to the increasing demand for quality in healthcare services at hospitals and territorial facilities, Law 31/97 requires all regional healthcare structures to obtain certification of their “Quality System” according to ISO 9000 standards.
The Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano del Garda – explains the general director Dr. Angelo Foschini – has thus launched the related project, clearly identifying the following two fundamental needs as the objectives of the program:
Objectives of the Quality System
§ The Quality System, even before serving as a façade/protection/documentation support towards the Law, must be used as a prevention/protection/informative support towards the organization itself.
§ The Quality System is an organizational structure that must be continuously improved and implemented.
“Organizations that do not thoroughly understand these two needs,” continues Dr. Foschini, “risk failing in their aims and installing a Quality System that may be useful for image purposes towards the regional health authority, but without the ability to be practically applicable in the organization for preventative and improvement purposes, purely in the interest of the citizen/user.”
ISO 9000 Standards and Project Implementation in the Organization
The ISO 9000 series standards are applied worldwide for every type of production activity or service provision and provide a framework within which work procedures, legal dispositions, and techniques for continuous, scientific, and organizational improvement can be integrated.
In this context, The Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano d/G has established the Quality Assurance function and launched a pilot project divided into three phases:
Phases of the Certification Project
The first, which resulted in certification by a prestigious International Third-Party Organization, DNV Italia – Det Norske Veritas, covering all diagnostic services (laboratories, transfusion centers, pathology, radiology), internal medicine wards, pharmacies, strategic management, and external relations activities;
The second, which aims to secure certification by March 2002 for activities and units such as emergency departments, pediatrics, operating theaters, sterilization centers, psychiatry wards, and the Management Control service;
The third, over the following 18 months, will lead to the certification completion for all remaining departments and services within the organization.
The certification project, concludes Director Foschini, as outlined by the Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano, has been recognized by Regione Lombardia as one of the most extensive and qualified projects among those submitted by organizations across the entire regional territory.