Evaluating The Effect Of Zero Defects Management Quality At A Children’s Hospital

As China further deepens reform on the medical and health system and continues to strengthen the medical service competition mechanism, it has become the focus of medical and health work to improve medical and health services as well as the monitoring network of medical services quality. Medical quality not only relates to people’s health needs, but also to medical institutions for their own development and survival. Thus, medical quality and supervision of medical services call for more attention and reinforcements as the guarantees for everyone’s access to basic medical and health services.The Zero Defects Management of medical quality is a new but very important quality management method and implementation guidelines. Medical quality is different from the quality of other physical products because it is the matter of patient’s health and life. In the medical service industry, therefore, the implementation of zero defects quality management tends to be more important.Currently, the research into Zero Defects Quality Management is mostly theoretical in China with fewer studies focusing on the evaluation of the effects of its implementation. This study is conducted to explore the feasibility of this method by studying the effects of Zero Defects Management on medical quality. It employs multiple perspectives on the Zero Defects Quality Management in the process of carrying it out in the hospital, which might contribute significantly to the promotion of medical service institutions and the improvement of medical services.[Objective] The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Zero Defects Management when practiced at a children’s hospital in Changchun City. The study bases itself on the monitoring results of prone defects indicators from2008through 2011, the analysis of medical dispute cases and the follow-up survey on the satisfactions of discharged patients. In so doing, it is expected to gain deeper insight into the quality management in hospitals and the effects of management method of medical quality. Moreover, suggestions about improving management method could be made and the improvements of Zero Defects Management in medical quality could be scientifically supported.[Method] Evaluation indicators are measured by adopting three kinds of evaluation methods, namely, the investigation into the satisfactions of discharged patients from2008through2011, indicators for quality management defects, and statistics for the rate of medical disputes. A self-designed questionnaire is administered to children patients to investigate their satisfaction. Excel2003is used for data entry, and SPSS13.0software for statistical analysis.[Results] The satisfaction of discharged patients has risen from77.1%to92%by2011since "Standard" was initiated in2008, continue stabilizing above90%for3years,with recognition rate increased from3%in2008to11.3%; as to suggestions, medical technology and physician attitudes are down from3.4%and1.7%in2008to0.4%and0.5%in2011respectively, while the satisfaction with medical environment climbs from12.2%in2008to4.2%in2011; In medical quality defects, defect occurrence rate falls off from2008to2011gradually, and there is also defect occurrence rate displays the trend coming down year by year equally in the following areas:core medical system, diagnosis, treatment, emergency operation and anesthesia routine, higher physician rounds, emergency, veterinary and outpatient clinic, inpatient department, medical documentation and medical imaging, laboratory, and pharmacy.; the cases of medical complaints also decrease year by year, from2009to2011, ten thousand patient complaint rate falls off obviously of outpatient service and the inpatient department, complaint rate is lower than out-patient being in hospital patient, of which complaints about the service attitude and sense of responsibility are proportionally higher, the dissatisfied condition appearing on inquiry is identical with patient degree of satisfaction. [Conclusion] There are higher improvements on discharged patients’ satisfaction between2009and2011, medical complaint occurrence rate comes down year by year, the medical quality defect falls off obviously. Therefore, suggestions for improvements should be made on the basis of evaluation results, for instance, enhancing the service attitude and sense of responsibility of medical staff and stressing the overall medical quality defects management, particularly in medical records writing. Only by implementing the improving measures according to evaluation results can Zero Defects Management in medical quality be achieved.