5 research outputs found
Meeting the cultural and service needs of Arabic international students by using QFD
Quality has become an important factor in global competition for many reasons. Intensive global competition and the demand for better quality by customers has led organizations to realize the beneļ¬ts of providing quality products and services in order to successfully compete and survive. Higher education institutions are one example of these organisations. Higher education institutions work in an intensive competitive environment worldwide driven by increasing demands for learning by local and international students. As a result, the managers of these sectors have realized that improving the quality of services is important for achieving customer satisfaction which can help survival in an internationally competitive market. To do this, it is necessary for organizations to know their customers and identify their requirements. To this end, many higher education institutions have adopted principles of total quality management (TQM) to improve their education quality which leads to better performance through involvement of every department to achieve excellence in business. This chapter considers the importance of measuring quality in order to assist universities to proactively manage the design and improvement of the social and academic experiences of postgraduate international students, and plan management decision-making processes to deliver high-quality services in a globalized business of provision of higher education. Higher education institutions must operate effectively and efļ¬ciently and be able to deliver quality programs, by seeking to better understand the needs of their customers to be competitive in this market space
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Delays in service for non-emergent patients due to arrival of emergent patients in the emergency department: a case study in Hong Kong.
BackgroundIn Hong Kong Emergency Departments (EDs), the timeliness of providing high-quality services has been compromised by the increasing attendance of non-emergent patients in addition to the unpredictable arrival of emergency patients.ObjectivesWe sought to quantify the impact of the presence of emergent patients and other related factors on the delay in service for non-emergent patients.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study in patients who visited the ED of a large hospital in Hong Kong from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. We estimated waiting and length of stay (LOS) for individual non-emergent patients registered during day and evening shifts. Using multiple linear regression, we estimated waiting time and LOS as a function of the presence of emergent patients and other related factors such as patient demographics and clinical factors. In particular, we evaluated the influence of the arrival or presence of emergent patients on the odds of violating the 120-min waiting time target for semi-urgent patients.ResultsThe arrival of a new emergent patient prolonged the waiting time and LOS of a non-emergent patient by 14.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 14.2-15.5) and 10.8% (95% CI 10.6-11.0), respectively. An additional patient-hour needed for an emergent patient increased the probability of violating the waiting time target for non-emergent patients (odds ratio 2.3, 95% CI 2.2-2.4).ConclusionsThe arrival of an emergent patient significantly prolonged the waiting time and LOS for non-emergent patients. Discouraging non-urgent ED utilization and building a real-time decision-support system are critical methods needed to relieve staff pressure and guide contingent resource reallocation when emergent patients arrive