Search results

Quality of health care is the degree of the most optimal degree of health outcomes by delivery of effective, efficient and cost‐benefit professional health services to people and communities. As nurses are the largest groups among health care professionals and are legally liable and morally responsible for their care, thus their perspective on quality of nursing care is important. The purpose of this qualitative study is “to define and describe quality from the perspective of nursing experts and clinical nurses”.

In this paper data were collected in two phases (ten individual interviews and five focus group discussions). A total of 44 clinical nurses and ten nursing experts participated through a purposeful sampling frame. Data analysis was conducted by latent content analysis to achieve a definition of nursing care quality.

The findings in this paper show that, according to similarities and differences between nursing experts' and clinical nurses' perspectives on quality, the final definition is “delivery of safety care based on nursing standards which eventuates in patient satisfaction”. Findings reveal that in nurses' perspectives on quality definition two important aspects have been mostly considered: “standard of care” and “patient satisfaction”. Moreover, both participant groups have emphasized the benefits of collaborative work in health care (teamwork). Further in this study, organizational and socio‐cultural roles in delivering quality nursing care have been mentioned such as staffing, budget, leadership, and social perspectives about nursing as a highly educated profession.

The paper offers an overview of nurses' perspectives of quality of nursing care in Iran.

Explores the theoretical context of quality and quality assurance in health care through a detailed review of the current literature. Outlines the definitions of quality and quality assurance. Identifies the two structural elements of quality assurance: quality assessment and quality improvement and control. Explores in some detail the elements of health care which are capable of assessment and the relationships between them. Finally, considers the mechanisms which can be used to improve health care if deficiencies are highlighted.

As the health‐care industry undergoes major change, a method of “accounting for quality” has become a key factor in health services delivery and fiscal accountability. This article examines several aspects of health care that inhibit the development of common methods of defining and accounting for quality. Key issues and characteristics of the health‐care market are addressed and the article provides a synthesis of these obstacles to the process of deriving common measures and standards of quality that may be utilized by the health‐care industry for financial decisions.

This study examined the effectiveness of using the Internet to teach consumers about quality health care, compared consumer definitions of quality health care prior to and following completion of the Internet experience, and compared ratings of learning, satisfaction and value of the Internet instruction between consumers who completed the Internet intervention alone and consumers who completed the Internet intervention and interacted with a nurse. A total of 34 people from a community library participated in this randomized comparative study. The intervention was effective in increasing consumer knowledge of quality care from pre‐ to post‐test. Although there were no significant differences between the two groups in knowledge gain, consumers in the interaction group had significantly higher scores on usefulness of the information in assessing the quality of care they are receiving from their health‐care providers.

The development of managed care plans is the most dramatic change in the USA’s health care system in recent decades. Despite the widespread growth, society is increasingly concerned with the quality of managed care programs. This article addresses the regulatory pressures that are being placed on managed care organisations, and examines what health care practitioners can do to minimize the impact of increased regulation. We look at the major factors that are likely to bring about changes in the health care sector, and predict how these changes will affect the quality of health care that is being delivered in the near future. Addresses how quality can become and remain the primary factor in the delivery of health care services. Finally, concludes that greater involvement by the federal government is necessary to protect consumers’ rights, and ensure better quality health care from managed care programs.

Although marketing does not play a large role in the Canadian health‐care system, acute care facilities have been conducting patient satisfaction surveys as a quality measurement tool for a number of years. More recently those in the long‐term care system have expressed an interest in this concept. This study set out to determine if long‐term care facilities in the Ministry of Health, Ontario Central West Region, conduct consumer satisfaction surveys. If they do, the study asked how the information is utilized and, if they do not, why not. This paper will highlight issues of service quality, health‐care quality and health‐care consumer satisfaction. This study is focused on long‐term care; however, the majority of the available research and information pertains to the acute care system. Although the principles of quality measurement and consumer satisfaction are the same for acute and long‐term care, our findings will identify the unique ways in which these principles apply to the long‐term care system.

Presents the results of an empirical study of junior doctors’ views on quality and clinical audit in health care. Claims that the requirement for annual efficiency gains and rising patient expectations, together with the realization that the “costs of quality” can consume between 30 and 50 per cent of costs, has brought quality in health care to the forefront. In this context, and because much of the medical care is delivered by junior doctors, studies their perceptions on dimensions of quality in health care, their knowledge of, and participation in, clinical audit and the obstacles to providing quality care. Makes a striking finding ‐ the low priority given to patient satisfaction ‐ a perspective which is out of alignment with the priorities of government policy, and the whole philosophy of “quality in service”. Asserts that the role, significance and outcome of clinical audit as a quality improvement tool is cast into doubt by these consultants of tomorrow.

To develop a framework for evaluating the quality of Portuguese health care organisations based on the relationship between customers and providers, to define key variables related to the quality of health care services based on a review of the available literature, and to establish a conceptual framework in order to test the framework and variables empirically.

Systematic review of the literature.

Health care services quality should not be evaluated exclusively by customers. Given the complexity, ambiguity and heterogeneity of health care services, the authors develop a framework for health care evaluation based on the relationship between customers (patients, their relatives and citizens) and providers (managers, doctors, other technical staff and non‐technical staff), and considering four quality items (customer service orientation, financial performance, logistical functionality and level of staff competence).

This article identifies important changes in the Portuguese health care industry, such as the ownership of health care providers. At the same time, customers are changing their attitudes towards health care, becoming much more concerned and demanding of health services. These changes are forcing Portuguese private and public health care organisations to develop more marketing‐oriented services. This article recognises the importance of quality evaluation of health care services as a means of increasing customer satisfaction and organisational efficiency, and develops a framework for health care evaluation based on the relationship between customers and providers.

This paper is to develop a quality measure to evaluate the quality level of child care service in the regional level. By utilizing the biannual intensive child care statistical reports, ten variables are integrated and summarized as a quality measure for child care service in regional level by employing Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Conclusively, it is possible to get a comprehensive measure and the measure obtained from data between 2003 and 2008 illustrates the difference in child care service quality among regions over years. With the measure developed by this research, each region can also get very good insight into what kinds of factors of child care service should be paid more attention to in order to improve the quality of its child care service. Moreover, the measure obtained in this paper is proven reliable and robust in that it reflects the quality of child care service in each region and gives us statistically uniform quality scores with a different data set.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between medical malpractice claims and medical care quality in Taiwan. The Delphi technique with an expert panel was used to determine the relationship between malpractice and medical quality. A total of 371 medical malpractice claims were analyzed. Main measures included the rate and strength of malpractice cases associated with quality and the identification of the quality factors influencing the occurrence of malpractice. Results showed that malpractice claims were associated with internal medicine cases, surgery cases, pediatric cases, obstetric and gynecological cases, physicians' professional competence, non‐acceptable outcomes, complications, and poor communication. Concludes that medical malpractice cases could be avoided by increasing physicians' professional knowledge, practical skills, and communication.