Implementing successful quality outcome programs in ambulatory care: key questions and recommendations.
With recent increasing attention to rising healthcare costs, both public and private sectors are demanding more value from the services and products they purchase. To achieve this goal, programs such as pay-for-performance have been implemented with varying success. One of the reasons behind the failures is the lack of understanding of how standards are received and accepted in the provider community. The purpose of this article is to outline some steps that will facilitate standard development and monitoring, with the aim of improving the actual outcomes themselves.
Shalowitz
Joel I
JI
Kellogg School of Management, School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA. j-shalowitz@kellogg.northwestern.edu
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D016730:Program Development; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012052:Reimbursement, Incentive; D014481:United States