Measuring health system performance from a community service perspective: the case of pediatric preventive services in Mason City.
The effectiveness of the local medical system may be evaluated using hospital discharge rates. The method is illustrated using the case of preventable pediatric admissions. Results of the analysis support the validity of admission rates for bronchitis and asthma, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, and otitis media as indicators of the primary care delivery system. The results also suggest that the study community, Mason City, Iowa, is performing well on these indicators.
Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Administration, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242 USA.
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Rohrer
D001249:Asthma; D001991:Bronchitis; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003191:Comprehensive Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005759:Gastroenteritis; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa; D010033:Otitis Media; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011014:Pneumonia; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017062:Small-Area Analysis; D012941:Social Responsibility; D018511:Systems Integration