Taking the Pulse, a newly released paper by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), examines indicators used as tools to measure, compare and improve the quality of care in hospitals. It is a growing practice in the health care field to collect and sometimes report performance data on how a hospital provides care to its patients.
Consumers need to be able to compare the quality of products and services, if they are to make an informed choice. That's no different whether shopping for a new car, or looking for the best hospital for care. In this first paper in AIMS Hospital Report Card series, author Julia Witt compares the models used to measure the quality of care in hospitals.
Julia Witt takes up this challenge by looking at the Oregon approach to health care coverage decision-making, and demonstrates how an improved version of the Oregon model would result in a truer reflection of the collective values of society’s members in deciding what medical services should have first claim on the scarce public health care dollars available.