Small and big quality in health care
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 11 May 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify healthcare quality’s ontological and epistemological foundations; and examine how these lead to different measurements and technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual analysis.
Findings
Small quality denotes conformance to ex ante requirements. Big quality includes product and service design, based on customer requirements and expectations. Healthcare quality can be divided into three areas: clinical decision making; patient safety; and patient experience, each with distinct measurement and improvement technologies.
Practical implications
The conceptual model is expected to bring clarity to constructing specific definitions, measures, objectives and technologies for improving healthcare.
Originality/value
This paper claims that before healthcare quality can be defined, measured and integrated into systems, it needs to be clearly separated into ontologically and epistemologically different parts.
Keywords
Citation
Lillrank, P. (2015), "Small and big quality in health care", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 356-366. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-05-2014-0068
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited