Quality systems in Dutch health care institutions.
The implementation of quality systems in Dutch health care was supervised by a national committee during 1990-1995. To monitor the progress of implementation a large survey was conducted in the beginning of 1995. The survey enclosed all subsectors in health care. A postal questionnaire--derived from the European Quality Award--was sent to 1594 health care institutions; the response was 74%. The results showed that in 13% of the institutions a coherent quality system had been implemented. These institutions reported, among other effects, an increase in staff effort and job satisfaction despite the increased workload; 59% of the institutions had implemented parts of a quality system. It appeared that management pay more attention to human resource management compared to documentation of the quality system. The medical staff pay relatively more attention to protocol development than to quality-assurance procedures. Patients were hardly involved in these quality activities. The research has shown that it is possible to monitor the progress of implementation of quality systems on a national level in all subsectors of health care. The results play an important role in the discussions and policy on quality assurance in health care.
Casparie
A F
AF
Department of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Sluijs
E M
EM
Wagner
C
C
de Bakker
D H
DH
D003625:Data Collection; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000592:standards*; D009426:Netherlands; D010358:Patient Participation; D010559:Personnel Management; D011050:Policy Making; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires