B. Graz et al., QUALITY-ASSURANCE IN SWISS UNIVERSITY-HOSPITALS - A SURVEY AMONG CLINICAL DEPARTMENT-HEADS, International journal for quality in health care, 8(3), 1996, pp. 271-277
Objective: To obtain information to help design and implement quality
improvement programmes. Design: Questionnaire survey. Setting: Swiss U
niversity Hospitals. Study participants: Clinical Department heads. Ma
in outcome measures: Attitudes towards quality assurance and percentag
e of departments with procedures for measurement and improvement of st
ructure, process and outcome of medical care. Results: Among 138 depar
tments responding, 69 indicated a designated person or group in charge
of quality and 57 were involved in collaborative quality improvement
programmes, Mortality data at the level of the department was unavaila
ble to 33% of respondents, and data on adverse treatment effects to 67
% of them, Most respondents (69%) favoured the use of outcome indicato
rs for quality control; only 13% favoured indicators pertaining to pro
cess or structure of care, Among indicators of outcome, patient satisf
action was the preferred indicator (25% of respondents), followed by m
orbidity (16%) and mortality (12%) data.Conclusion: Although the quali
ty of medical care in Switzerland enjoys an excellent reputation, this
study highlights important gaps in the information system and the pro
cesses necessary to evaluate quality. Copyright (C) 1996 Eslevier Scie
nce Ltd.