The process of receiving health care services at the correct time in the appropriate way and to get the best possible outcome is defined as quality health care.

Six attributes of health care quality

• Safety – Care should not harm any patient.
• Patient centered – Individual needs should be taken care of when providing care.
• Timely – Care should be provided exactly on time.
• Effective – Care must be based on evidence.
• Efficient – Wastage of time should be reduced.
• Equitable – Equal care should be provided to every patient.

What is quality health care?

The meaning of quality health care is not the same for all people. According to some patients, quality care is to consult a doctor, to get proper treatment from the staffs of a hospital and to have a physician who can spend much time with the patient. But all these things are secondary. Clinical quality of care is the most important thing because more lives can be saved by providing evidence-based and high quality care.

Does quality equal safety?

Yes, quality equals safety. The quality of care is to be improved by the health care providers because it can save more lives of the patients.

How is health care quality measured?

Outcome indicators and process indicators are the two ways of measuring quality of care. Timelines and baseline practices are measured by process indicators. Complication rates, mortality rates and infection rates are measured by outcome indicators.

These indicators can be looked at by the consumer to compare the hospitals. National accreditations, recognitions and state of the hospital should also be looked at by you to measure quality.

What are quality measures and quality indicators?

The process of converting the medical information of a patient into percentage or rate to analyze the quality of care provided by the hospitals to their patients is called a quality measure. You will be given information by quality measures about how the patients are provided care by the hospital. This quality information can be used by you to compare the quality care of different hospitals.

What role do nurses and doctors play?

A very important role is played by the doctors and nurses. Quality care should be provided by all the nurses and physicians, clinically and satisfactorily. All the staffs in a hospital such as the receptionist, scrub nurse, hospital administrator, physician and the X-ray technician are responsible in providing quality care to all the patients.

Remember all these features when you will go to get quality health care from any hospital.