Employee involvement program changes and the total quality process: the University of Michigan Medical Center experience.

Employee involvement has increasingly been recognized as important for improving both quality and cost effectiveness. Given the especially crucial role played by employees in the health-care field, and the relatively high level of education and sophistication that characterizes this group, it is also recognized that initiating and sustaining meaningful employee involvement programs in a health-care setting represent unique challenges and opportunities. This article presents the operational evolution of a successful employee involvement program in a large, diversified academic medical center. The developed program includes quality-improving and revenue-enhancing suggestions as well as cost-containment ideas. Specific operational issues and program changes are examined within the context of the total quality process at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Finally, this article identifies three main types of incentives that can maximize the results obtained by employee involvement programs in health-care settings.