Value Based Health Care: Linking Finance and Quality

CHAPTER 2

IMPROVING PATIENT SAFETY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Describe how data can be used to define good care for physicians and administrators; explain how quality measures can be used to define value

• Describe the link between quality care and organizational efficiency

• Understand the role of root cause analysis in defining gaps to patient safety

• Identify appropriate formats for data analysis reports

Administrators and physicians have been somewhat reluctant to get on the quality data bandwagon, but there simply is no other way to assess or improve patient safety. The reasons for their reluctance provoke interesting questions about the delivery of care. Usually, these reasons involve hospital culture, a term that refers to entrenched habits ...