The present study was conducted to bring the attention to the importance of Training & the other developmental practices as elements of Human Resource Development (HRD) in improving healthcare output as being monitored by hospitals’ key performance indicators (KPIs) through applying the total quality management (TQM) strategy at Ministry of Health (MOH), Egypt.

 

The study population represented a sample of healthcare professionals from 35 MOH hospitals, 164 employees were included in the study sample, the response rate was 98.5% of the total questionnaires distributed. As based upon Kirkpatrick Model, et al.1979.,¹ evaluation of the training effectiveness was customized in this study at level 4 only (which is mainly concerned about assessing “Results”& reflects the evaluation of training’s impact on the organization’s business results). Data collection sheet was used to collect values of the most common hospitals KPIs (16 indicators) from the 35 hospitals over 6 years period (2009 to 2014) which had been used to monitor & evaluate quality performance improvement at MOH hospitals.

 

The obtained findings showed no significant (p>0.10) impact of the training& other developmental practices of the hospital’s quality teams as a whole on improving quality performance (as being assessed by the hospital KPIs score change) when applying TQM principles. Perusal analysis of the data also showed that healthcare professionals’ training in the field of quality was not a predictor of hospital performance improvement (p-value>0.10).

 

The descriptive study findings identified that lack of resources, motivation &leadership support were the most common obstacles for learning transfer. Also, employees resistant to change were the main challenge facing healthcare professionals to apply TQM as being expressed by the study targeted responders. The current study also revealed a lack of knowledge &skills regarding training evaluation methodology as well as underestimation of its importance in decision-making.