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A Systematic Scoping Literature Review of Incorporating a Total Quality Culture Within Radiotherapy Staffing Models: A Management Strategy to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Care in Radiation Therapy Departments

2011; Elsevier BV; Volume: 42; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jmir.2011.03.001

1939-8654

Priya Patel, Gunita Mitera,

Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare

Background Radiation therapy (RT) staffing models have traditionally been based on the number of linear accelerators available at cancer centers (i.e., task-focused). RT treatments are becoming increasingly complex and a novel staffing model should be established that incorporates a total quality culture (TQC) to promote process-focused performance by using a patient-centered approach throughout the entire organization. Objectives The objective of this article was to conduct a systematic scoping literature review of publications that study TQC within hospitals. The second objective was to specifically identify the publications that report on the relationship between TQC and their current RT staffing model. Methods and Results A systematic scoping literature review was conducted in July 2010 using the Web of Science, Pub Med, and Google Scholar databases. Nine studies were identified that discussed TQC in hospitals. Five of the nine studies found that a TQC is positively correlated with patient satisfaction in hospitals. The remaining four studies discussed RT staffing based on the number of linear accelerators and did not mention a TQC. Conclusions There are few studies that focus on the incorporation of a TQC in hospitals and RT staffing models. RT staffing models should be updated with an emphasis on “process-oriented” results. A novel RT model that includes a TQC strategy should allow radiation therapists within RT departments to be more autonomous in patient care and allowed to make more decisions in the treatment of patients.