Quality of Health Information Systems

Abstract

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines quality in general as the ability to meet all the expectations of the purchaser of goods or services, or in other words, as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements, where “requirements” means need or expectation. Three major approaches to quality assessment are typically distinguished: Quality of structures, quality of processes, and quality of outcome. In the context of health care, the concept of quality of structures applies to the human, physical, and financial resources that are needed to provide medical care (e.g., educational level of staff, availability of medical equipment). Quality of processes describes the quality of activities carried out by care providers (e.g., adherence to professional standards, appropriateness of care). Finally, quality of outcome describes the effects of patient care, that is, the changes in the health status of the patient (e.g., mortality, morbidity, costs). While quality of structures influences quality of processes, quality of processes in turn influences quality of outcome.