The Quest for Healthcare Quality: Part I
Defining Healthcare Quality
A standardized definition for healthcare quality has been elusive; though most will agree that the term “quality” in healthcare refers to the patient’s overall experience, or, encounter with the healthcare system.
More formally, healthcare quality can be defined as “the extent to which services provided to individuals and patient populations improve desired health outcomes.” (NIH). In this context, health outcomes might be reducing high utilization of emergency room services, reducing admissions and seeing better management of chronically ill patient’s across the board.
More broadly, we could define healthcare quality in terms of the health professionals involved in addition to the patients as the way that these services are delivered: not only in relation to their efficacy, but the attitude of those delivering them.
Breaking Healthcare Quality Down
On the whole, a healthcare system’s attitude will determine the overall patient experience, perhaps even more so than the procedures or treatments themselves. If everyone within a healthcare system is dedicated to quality improvement, they will reap the benefits of this attitude.
Healthcare quality is made up of several sub-topics:
Safety
Efficacy
Patient-Centeredness
Efficiency
Timeliness
Equity
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