Improving hospital performance: issues in assessing the impact of TQM activities

Article Abstract:

The healthcare industry has willingly adopted the concept of total quality management (TQM) as important to improving quality in the delivery of healthcare, but whether its use has made any difference is hard to measure. Hospital performance can be measured in many ways, including efficiency and effectiveness, but auditing that performance data needs very strict assessment criteria. Important issues to consider in the design of the assessment include the need for a longitudinal design, a time frame that is long enough to observe the effects of TQM, the impact of external factors and whether or not to use outside consultants to perform the audit. All these factors could easily slant the assessment's results.

Measurement

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The total costs of illness: a metric for health care reform

Article Abstract:

Direct medical costs of an illness or injury comprise less than half of the total costs of that condition. The application of systems thinking to healthcare reform requires that other cost components be measured as well, including indirect costs to employers, patients, families and society. An industry/education research group developed a cost metric that analysed employer medical payouts, nonmedical payouts and lost opportunity costs to come up with total costs associated with back injury. The healthcare industry is encouraged to work with employers to ensure that improvement in the delivery of healthcare also reduces the total costs.

Economic aspects, Medical care, Cost of, Health care costs, Control

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