Total quality in the management of information technology (TQMIT): the case of tele-radiology and imaging technologies

Addresses the management of health care information technology (HCIT) from a total quality perspective with a focus on associated technologies in radiology and imaging. The aim is to chart a course for the application of these advancing technologies within the context of an integrated delivery system (IDS) to prepare radiologists and other medical technologists facing a rapidly changing health service delivery system. In this context, a critical step is the task of strategic HCIT planning, design and implementation to realize an efficient, appropriate and effective HCIT infrastructure for developing seamless, integrated radiological services. The key factors underlying this challenge in face of rapid advances in radiological and imaging technology are often poorly understood. The concept of a total quality management information technology (TQMIT) model is explored and illustrated. The central theme is to demonstrate how this sort of thinking can be applied philosophically, logically and physically to guide management and radiologists in strategy formulation and in taking critical steps to plan, design and develop high-quality services that will facilitate distributed image processing, information exchange and sharing among multiple health care providers within an IDS.