Assessing the performance of public hospitals using key indicators: A case study in Chile and Ecuador

Abstract

Background: Continuous improvement, quality of care, and patient satisfaction demand the implementation of coordinated actions from all the healthcare personnel. They also require collaboration, management skills and attention to different dimensions to improve problems due to the lack of resources such as specialists, medical technology and infrastructure. Aim: To design and implement a model of indicators to evaluate the performance of hospitals. Material and Methods: The methodology used in this research included a review of the literature, data collection, conducting interviews, defining objectives and indicators, proposing a model of indicators, validating the set of indicators, implementing the indicators in a hospital, and analyzing the results. Results: The proposed model of 95 indicators was implemented in a hospital in Ecuador. The results indicate that 37 indicators meet the standard, 19 need to be reviewed, 10 show non-compliance and need serious improvements, and the remaining 29 were not informed by the hospital under study. Conclusions: The defined indicators are aimed to improve the performance of a hospital, are easily interpreted, can be measured without spending large amounts of money, and do not need excessive efforts to collect data, mainly if they are supported by information systems.