A Measurement of the Quality of Health Care Based on Its Performance
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: In recent years, the healthcare system has undergone rapid transformation. Nonetheless, a recent Quality and Patient Safety Report highlighted declining levels of patient safety and quality culture among healthcare professionals. This highlights the importance of assessing care quality and patient safety from the perspectives of both patients and healthcare professionals.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) patients' and healthcare professionals' perspectives on overall quality of care and patient safety standards at two tertiary hospitals, as well as (2) which demographic characteristics are related to overall quality of care and patient safety.
Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used. The Revised Humane Caring Scale and the Healthcare Professional Core Competency Instrument were used to collect data on two items: overall quality of care and patient safety. Questionnaires were distributed to (1) patients (n = 600) and (2) healthcare professionals (nurses and physicians) (n = 246) in three departments (medical, surgical, and obstetrics and gynecology) at two tertiary hospitals between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression.
Results: The questionnaires were completed by 367 patients and 140 healthcare professionals, representing response rates of 61.2% and 56.9%, respectively. Overall, healthcare professionals rated quality of care (M = 4.36; SD = 0.720) and patient safety (M = 4.39; SD = 0.675) slightly higher than patients (M = 4.23; SD = 0.706), (M = 4.22; SD = 0.709). The study found a link between hospital variables and overall quality of care (OR = 0.095; 95% CI = 0.016-0.551; p = 0.009) and patient safety (OR = 0.153; 95% CI = 0.027-0.854; p = 0.032) among healthcare professionals. Furthermore, an association was discovered between the admission/work area and the participants' perspectives on the quality of care (patients, OR = 0.257; 95% CI = 0.072-0.916; p = 0.036; professionals, OR = 0.093; 95% CI = 0.009-0.959; p = 0.046).
Conclusions: Patients and healthcare professionals both rated the quality of care and patient safety as excellent, with only minor differences indicating a high level of patient satisfaction and competent healthcare delivery professionals. Such perspectives can offer valuable and complementary insights into how to improve the overall standards of healthcare delivery systems.
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