Quality improvement by means of "differential' occupational health care: an experiment in a regional occupational health centre.
From a general policy of quality improvement, the regional Occupational Health Centre Eastern Gelderland has developed a method of company health care based on the particular demands and needs of companies. A procedure of care "made to measure' based on company and work characteristics was designed. For one year, an experiment was carried out in seven companies, to investigate if this "differential care' is feasible, and if its quality is better than the traditional "standard' form. After the experiment, the companies' satisfaction proved to have increased. The influence of the Occupational Health Centre on working conditions was estimated more important than before. The increased satisfaction is considered to be an indication of better quality of care, compared with the traditional "standard' care. The differential approach appeared to be feasible. The method requires skills of professionals in the field of planning, cooperation, estimating costs and negotiating.
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Foundation for Quality in Occupational Health Care SKB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Slotboom
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D009426:Netherlands; D016272:Occupational Health; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000639:trends