Implementing an ISO 9001 quality management system in a multispecialty clinic.

Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa (PCI) is a 50-physician multispecialty clinic located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Physician specialties include cardiac surgery, otolaryngology, general surgery, neurology, orthopedic surgery, podiatry, rheumatology, thoracic surgery, urology, and vascular surgery. PCI employs 200 staff at five sites of care. PCI physicians manage approximately 98,000 E and M encounters per year and perform over 52,000 surgical procedures annually. In the spring of 2001, leadership at PCI decided to develop a quality program for the clinic. After evaluating healthcare options and reviewing industry quality systems, it was decided to pursue ISO 9001 certification for the clinic. PCI leadership had joined the local chapter of the American Society for Quality and participated in chapter events. This relationship enabled PCI leadership to gain insight into quality management systems used in industry, and the information helped in choosing ISO as the quality system for PCI to pursue.