In his responsibility for quality management systems in the International segment of Fresenius Medical Care, Wolfgang Kümmerle does not normally need to start from scratch:

“Our staff works in healthcare and thus needs to comply with diverse legal regulations regarding education, training and skills. Anyone applying for a job needs to fulfil these requirements. However, for Fresenius Medical Care to maintain and constantly enhance its quality standards, additional and very different prerequisites need to be in place. It is therefore essential that training exercises are effective. A successful final exam alone is not good enough. Not all of our training modules end with an exam. And, even with an exam we cannot know how someone will put theory into practice in day-to-day work, for example in a dialysis ward,” says Dr. Kümmerle.

Therefore, his department developed a holistic training management system. It covers all business processes and determines the effectiveness of training measures. “We make use of multiple-choice tests, and we hold specific workshops for this purpose. We get the best results when people know what happens both upstream and downstream from their station in the work process.” This has led to the creation of a training matrix which reflects the entire product life cycle, from purchasing via production and application all the way to waste disposal.

“Fresenius Medical Care’s exceptional business model has made this possible. In other industries that is quite seldom. Certainly, we invest a lot of effort in this area. We want to make sure that each employee looks beyond the limits of the respective processes and becomes aware of the importance of quality for his or her specific job,” says Wolfgang Kümmerle. “Our staff needs to feel as an integral part of the whole – this is the best motivation. It is also the key for all trainings and a prerequisite for quality.”

A holistic management system
guarantees high-quality training
throughout the Company.

Trainees learn how to
operate a dialysis machine.

Are our training courses up to the mark?
Special workshops gauge and assess
their effectiveness.

The development of a holistic training
management system as an important element of
quality management is a cross departmental approach
that goes far beyond conveying knowledge
about individual products or services.

– our contribution –

CERTIFIED DIALYSIS CLINICS
IN 2008
300

QUALITY TRAININGS
IN 2008
57

PARTICIPANTS
IN 2008
578

Further information on this topic can be found here.