Quality Of Health Care In Hospitals Research Articles

When Agency Fails: An Analysis of the Association Between Hospital Agency Staffing and Quality Outcomes.

Staffing is critical to hospital quality, but recent years have seen hospitals grappling with severe shortages, forcing them to rely on contract or agency staff for urgent patient care needs. This shift in staffing mix has raised questions about its impact on quality. Consequently, this study investigated whether the increased use of agency staff has affected healthcare quality in hospitals. Given the limited recent research on this topic, practitioners remain uncertain about the effectiveness of their staffing strategies and their potential impact on quality. Drawing from agency theory, data were obtained from Definitive Healthcare which consolidates information from numerous public access databases pertaining to hospitals such as the American Hospital Association Annual Survey (hospital profile) and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (quality data). We conducted a cross-sectional study using a multivariable linear regression model (2021-2022) with appropriate organizational and market- level control variables. Quality was measured across eight variables while the independent variable of interest was agency labor cost ratio operationalized as the percentage of net patient revenue consumed by agency labor expense. Our results suggested that the employment of agency staff was significantly and negatively associated with six of eight quality measures tested, including the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) star rating, Hospital Compare rating, the hospital Total Performance Score (TPS), and three of the four sub-domains that comprise the TPS: clinical domain score, person and community engagement domain score, and the efficiency and cost reduction score. Our results indicated that the increased use of agency labor may have a significant negative influence on quality outcomes at the hospital level. Our findings support the premise that interventions that promote full-time staffing may be more supportive of the quality of care delivered as well as patients' perceptions of care.

Do hospitals attaining a public recognition for treating nurses fairly deliver better-quality health care? Evidence from cross-sectional analysis of California hospitals.

This study explored whether hospitals that allocate greater resources to their nursing staff provide better healthcare services than those that invest less in their nursing personnel. Cross-sectional logistic and tobit analyses. We examined a sample of 314 California hospitals in 2017. We obtained a hospital's public recognition for treating nurses fairly between 2015 and 2017 from Nurse.org, the largest online community of nurses. We derived a hospital's healthcare quality in 2018 from the 2019-2020 Best Hospitals rankings released by U.S. News, a well-known media company publishing independent healthcare assessments periodically. Our results showed that a nurse-friendly workplace was a crucial determinant of its overall healthcare quality. Healthcare administrators keen to enhance the quality of healthcare services should consider creating nurse-friendly workplaces. Furthermore, their evaluation of nurses' contributions to overall healthcare quality should not solely depend on the nurse-assessed quality of care, but rather comprise not only broad aspects of patient outcomes in primary care but also patient experiences, care-related factors and expert opinions. Our study helped address the overwhelmed healthcare system, whose long-running shortage of nurses has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our work suggested that a hospital's investment in a nurse-friendly workplace can enhance its acquisition, retention and devotion of the nursing staff. This, in turn, can have profound impacts on its overall healthcare quality. Existing empirical evidence on the relation between nurse-friendly workplace and healthcare quality is limited and inconclusive. We documented evidence that the quality of healthcare services provided by hospitals varies with their treatment of nursing staff. Our results provided insights into key policies that have the potential to improve healthcare quality.

Philippine Journal of Development

This year’s first issue of the Philippine Journal of Development features articles on healthcare quality in hospitals, health financing, social health insurance benefit payments, and persons with disabilities. The first article measures the capacity of public and private hospitals in the country to provide high-quality health care based on their structural inputs. The second article analyzes the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) performance as the national strategic purchaser of health services, a role envisioned for it under the Universal Health Care Act. The third article examines the incidence of PhilHealth premium contributions and benefit payments by socioeconomic classes and age groups. The last article discusses the indicators valued by persons with disabilities and their families in Valenzuela City, Philippines, and how these manifest as they participate in the wider community.

Surveillance of Surgical Site Infections: A Public Health Emergency in a Regional Hospital of Northern Benin. A Prospective Observational Pilot Study

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are considered as result of the healthcare quality in hospitals. Objective: to study SSI at Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital Tanguieta (SJDHT), prior to the implementation of a permanent monitoring system. Method: transversal, and descriptive study with prospective data collection was performed from 1 July to 31 janvier 2017 in the department of general surgery of SJDHT. The hospital lacks in a microbiology unit. All patients who underwent surgery during this period were included and the monitoring lasted one month. SSIs diagnostic was carried out according to WHO criteria as described in the Practical Guide for the Prevention of Nosocomial Infections published in 2002. Statistical tests (χ-square and Student’s t-test) were applied and p 0.05 were statistically significant. Results: Of 343 patients recorded, 105 (30.6%) had SSI. Their age averaged 40.3 years and the sex-ratio (men/women) was 2.8. The emergency surgery resulted in a 50.0% rate of SSI (p = 0.00). The SSI rate for clean and clean-contaminated surgery was 6.3% against 94.6% for infected surgery (p = 0.00). The SSI rates were 100% and 66.7% for NNISS = 2 and NNISS = 1 (p = 0.00), respectively. Superficial SSI rate was 13.3%, while deep SSI and organ/space SSI were 46.7% and 40%, respectively. The hospital stay of patients with SSI was three times longer than the length of patients without SSI (p = 0.00). Conclusion: SSIs are real burden at SJDHT. Appropriate measures must be adopted to reduce its prevalence.

Potentially avoidable hospitalizations for older patients transferred from long-term care hospitals: a nationwide cross-sectional analysis of potential healthcare consequences.

Multiple chronic disorders and disabilities among older patients in long term care hospitals (LTCH) tends to increase the healthcare burden by causing overcrowding, particularly in emergency departments. Therefore, access to timely and adequate healthcare for LTCH patients is an increasingly important issue, and potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs) and hospitalizations during non-office hours can result as indicators of emergency department overcrowding. The study aimed to evaluate PAHs and hospitalizations during non-office hours in emergency departments for older patients transferred from LTCH compared to patients living at home. We performed a cross-sectional study using the National Emergency Department Information System database from January 2018 to December 2019, in South Korea, with older patients (≥ 65years) who visited nationwide emergency departments. Adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for indicators of overcrowding as PAHs and hospitalizations during non-office hours were calculated by logistic regression. Among the 2,177,663 older patients who visited the emergency departments, 98,434 patients were living in LTCH and 2,079,229 patients were living at home. The older patients living in LTCH was associated with PAHs (aOR: 1.90, 95% CI 1.87-1.94) and hospitalizations during non-office hours (aOR: 1.76, 95% CI 1.73-1.78). LTCH patients showed more hospital visits, extended stay in the emergency department, greater prevalence of chronic diseases, greater rates of transfer as well as higher admission rates and mortality as compared to the patients living at home. The LTCH older patients were associated with the indicators of emergency department overcrowding, which impacts health care quality in hospitals. Introduction of policy and training programs for LTCH staff are recommended to manage vulnerable groups in advance.

Evaluation of Patients' Perception of Safety in an Italian Hospital Using the PMOS-30 Questionnaire.

Background: In our study, an Italian version of the PMOS-30 questionnaire was used to evaluate its feasibility and to improve health care quality in an Italian hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 435 inpatients at a hospital in the Campania Region of Southern Italy using the PMOS-30 questionnaire and two other questions to assess patient feedback about the overall perception of safety. Results: The item “I was always treated with dignity and respect” showed the greatest percentage of agreement (agree/strongly agree = 89.2%; mean = 4.24). The least agreement was associated with the four “Staff Roles and Responsibilities” items (agree/strongly agree ranged from 31.5 to 40.0%; weighted mean = 2.84). All other 25 items had over 55.0% agreement, with 19 items over 70%. Moreover, 94.5% of the patients considered the safety of the ward sufficient/good/very good, and 92.8% did not notice situations that could cause harm to patients. Conclusion: Patient perception of safety was found to be satisfactory. The results were presented to the hospital decision makers for suggesting appropriate interventions. Our experience showed that the use of the PMOS-30 questionnaire may improve safety and health care quality in hospital settings through patient feedback.

Can We Move the Needle on School Mental Health Quality Through Systematic Quality Improvement Collaboratives?

Learning collaboratives (LCs) have often been used to improve somatic health care quality in hospitals and other medical settings, and to some extent to improve social services and behavioral health care. This initiative is the first demonstration of a national, systematic LC to advance comprehensive school mental health system quality among school district teams. Twenty-four districts representing urban, rural, and suburban communities in 14 states participated in one of two 15-month LCs. Call attendance (M = 73%) and monthly data submission (M = 98% for PDSA cycles and M = 65% for progress measures) indicated active engagement in and feasibility of this approach. Participants reported that LC methods, particularly data submission, helped them identify, monitor and improve school mental health quality in their district. Qualitative feedback expands quantitative findings by detailing specific benefits and challenges reported by participants and informs recommendations for future research on school mental health LCs. Rapid-cycle tests of improvement allowed teams to pursue challenging and meaningful school mental health quality efforts, including mental health screening in schools, tracking the number of students receiving early intervention (Tier 2) and treatment (Tier 3) services, and monitoring psychosocial and academic improvement for students served.

Impact of Accreditation, Services Quality, Green Standards and Product Superiority on Customer Loyalty: A Case of Healthcare Quality in Hospitals of Pakistan

This study comprehends the association of quality services, product superiority, accreditations and green environment of hospitals; with corporate brand image, patient trust and loyalty. Respondents of the research study were from seven different healthcare organizations including private, charitable and naval sectors in four major cities (Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi) of Pakistan. Questionnaires were disseminated to 580 participants, and 447 responses were received. The data analysis was processed in SPSS 20 and SmartPLS 3.0. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to examine the inference for significant and insignificant associations between constructs.
 The outcomes specify that hospital accreditation positively and significantly impacts the customer loyalty through mediating effects of corporate brand image and customer trust. Similarly quality of services positively and significantly impacts the customer loyalty through mediating effects of corporate brand image. However rest of the relationships in this study were not found significant through mediating effects of customer trust and brand image.
 The hospitals management in Pakistan is recommended to instrument the accreditation of healthcare standards in its true spirit and should introduce innovations in healthcare technologies in institutions for unveiling more high-quality and superior health products and services to build strong corporate image and patient trust on rock-hard foundations to establish the satisfied and loyal patients.

Infection Risks and Antimicrobial Resistance in Tertiary Hospitals in Benin: Study Cases of Sakété-Ifangni and Menontin Hospitals

Background: Antimicrobial resistance surveillance and infection risk assessment are important for optimizing the quality of healthcare in hospitals. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance and infection risks in Tertiary hospitals in Benin. Methods: Bacteriological examinations were carried out on swab samples from the hospital environment at Sakete-Ifangni Hospital and Menontin Hospital in Benin. The environmental swabs were supplemented with wound swabs from Menontin Hospital. In both hospitals, antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated strains was determined by the agar diffusion method. Results: The results showed that coagulase-negative staphylococci (45%) comprised the most isolated species in the environment of the Surgery and Operating Departments of Sakete-Ifangni Hospital, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (27.50%) and Proteus spp. (15%). At Menontin Hospital, only one specimen was sterile from wound swabs. From environmental swabs, 29 out of 45 samples were positive. Staphylococcus aureus (31%), Escherichia coli (15%), and coagulase-negative staphylococci (12%) were the most isolated species from wounds. Strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci (29%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15%), and Proteus mirabilis (12%) were the most common strains in swabs. The study of the adequacy of treatment of infections caused by bacteria responsible for wound suppuration showed that 52% of the wounded received appropriate antibiotic treatment. At Menontin Hospital, many isolated strains from room environment samples were found in the wounds of the patients. In both hospitals, the isolated strains were multiresistant to conventional antibiotics. Conclusions: These data show how surveillance of infection risks and antimicrobial resistance is important to prevent healthcare-associated infections.

Transcultural adaptation of the Karen Personal instrument to measure the nurses’ perception of healthcare quality in hospitals

ObjectiveTo adapt cross-culturally and validate the Karen Personal scale to measure the perception of the quality of care of hospital nurses of the public health care network in Chile. MethodFor the transcultural adaptation to Spanish of the scale, the inverse method was applied with translation-back translation and the judgement of 41 nursing professionals from a medium complexity public hospital. Then in a sample of 290 nurses from three high complexity public hospitals, exploratory factor analysis (varimax rotation) and confirmatory (maximum likelihood) and structural equations were applied. The programmes Stata 13.0 and R 3.2.2 were used. ResultsA linguistically adapted version of the instrument was obtained and presented a factorial solution of four factors that together explain 63.8% of the variance, and the scale presented a good fit according to the indicators used: CFI (.961); TLI (.950); RMSEA (.65); SRMR (.67). ConclusionsThe abbreviated version proposed in this study was adapted cross-culturally and shows adequate metrics and factorial analysis, it is necessary to continue evaluating its clinimetric properties in future studies.

QR Code Mobile sebagai Pendukung Rekam Medik Berkas Rawat Jalan RS. St. Elisabeth Semarang

Medical record play important role in order to improve hospital healthcare quality. Medical record must provide proper, fast, and relevant data. Current medical records documentation is manual based in mean the documents are available in notes and document maps. There is no integration among the document, and it can caused a misunderstanding among hospital stakeholder such as doctor or nurse and also duplicated data. QR code is one of alternative to handle completeness file, searching document, and store all document. The combination between QR code, web and mobile platform can handle the problem faced by hospital stakeholder. In testing phase, the proposed system can handle medical record problem in RS. St. Elisabeth. Average of respondent, more than 50% state that sistem is good to handle tracking record, completeness file, and store.

The impact of accreditation on health care quality in hospitals

Background/Aim. Accreditation is considered to be the oldest and most widespread mechanism of independent external evaluation of health care quality and is implemented in over 70 countries worldwide. Despite numerous studies in this field, there is still no solid evidence about its impact on health care quality and patient safety. The goal of this paper was to investigate if the accreditation process has an effect on the difference in values of health care quality indicators. Methods. The study was conducted in two tertiary level health care hospitals, one accredited, the other non-accredited. Values of seven quality indicators in the period before, during and immediately after the completion of accreditation (from 2007?2015), which measure health care quality, patient safety, the efficiency and productivity of the institution, were compared. Results. Of the seven monitored quality indicators, a positive effect of the accreditation process can be attributed to a shorter length of waiting for the first scheduled health check at the institution, shorter length of waiting for the first scheduled surgical check, lower rate of patients with decubitus as well as a decrease of the rate of hospital days per patient with acute myocardial infarction. No effect of accreditation was found on the mortality rate, mortality rate within the first 48 hours of hospitalization, and the average rate of hospital days per patient at the level of the institution. Conclusion. The process of accreditation undoubtedly intensifies activities that contribute to improving health care quality, which results in better health outcomes. Additional research in this field and new evidence about the relationship between accreditation and quality upgrading in health care institutions are required because this could motivate their managers to decide more easily to enter into this process and implement it, despite the additional efforts and financial investments associated with accreditation.

Role of Hospital Information Systems in Improving Healthcare Quality in Hospitals

Background/Objective: This paper represents the role of information systems in quality improvement in hospitals. Hospital Information Systems (HIS) have great potential in reducing healthcare cost and in improving health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to offer analytical research that explores the role of hospital information systems in delivery of healthcare in its diverse organizational and regulatory settings. This paper aims to examine the role of hospital information systems in improving health care quality in hospital. Primary data was collected through distributing questionnaire to patient. A total of 214 samples were collected from major corporate hospitals in the capital city of Tamil Nadu, i.e., Chennai and used for this research paper. Methods and Analysis: Friedman test was implied to find the effect of implementing hospital information systems in hospitals to improve healthcare quality. Findings: Implementing hospital information systems in hospitals has a greater effect on improving healthcare quality among hospitals and this increases patient satisfaction.

FACTOR ANALYSIS OF HEALTHCARE SERVICE QUALITY IN MEDAN�S GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL

Ponte Academic JournalOct 2016, Volume 72, Issue 10 FACTOR ANALYSIS OF HEALTHCARE SERVICE QUALITY IN MEDAN�S GOVERNMENT HOSPITALAuthor(s): Prihatin Lumbanraja ,Arlina Nurbaity Lubis, Rodiah Rahmawaty Lubis, Beby Kendida HasibuanJ. Ponte - Oct 2016 - Volume 72 - Issue 10 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2016.10.11 Abstract:Service sector increases rapidly especially in Indonesia. This can be seen from the distribution of the percentage of Product Domestic Bruto (PDB) based on job vacancy showing that the service sector contribution approaches 50%. One of the service/care industries with rapid growth is healthcare service. It can be seen from the government plan year 2015-2016 to do healthcare reinforcement. Generally, healthcare is identically related to hospital. A hospital is a professional healthcare institution in which its service is provided by doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers. Among the numerous competitions of hospital industries until now, there are still many people who choose to go overseas to get medication; this is related to the point of view that the quality of the domestic medical service is worse than what is provided in Singapore or Malaysia. This is indicated by the more sophisticated medical equipment and clearer operational procedure standard, so that the diagnosis can be faster and more accurate. It is estimated that each year there are �600.000 Indonesian people go to Malaysia and Singapore to get check-ups and �100.000 of them are from North Sumatera (Malaysia Tourism Board Medan, 2005). This research aims at identifying and analyzing the factors that influence the quality of healthcare in public hospitals in the town. This research employs the method of descriptive quantitative approach. The steps of the activities that will be conducted are 1. Identifying various indicators and dimensions of the quality of healthcare in the hospital using survey method and literature review. 2. Evaluating the indicators and dimensions using factor analysis. This factor analysis shows 12 factors forming that can explain 77.98% of the data variance. The twelve factors are factor 1 patient educational services, factor 2 staff professionalism, factor 3 food aspect, factor 4 assurance, factor 5 responsiveness and convenience services, factor 6 empathy, factor 7 cleanliness, factor 8 well educated staff, factor 9 patient trust, factor 10 reliability, factor 11 Parking area, factor 12 Patient privacy. However, the 11th and 12th factors cannot be stated as factors because they only cover less than three indicators, so that the service quality forming consists of ten factors only. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Instruments to measure patient experience of healthcare quality in hospitals: a systematic review.

BackgroundImproving and sustaining the quality of hospital care is an international challenge. Patient experience data can be used to target improvement and research. However, the use of patient experience data has been hindered by confusion over multiple instruments (questionnaires) with unknown psychometric testing and utility.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and utility critique of questionnaires to measure patient experience of healthcare quality in hospitals. Databases (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Psychological Information (PsychINFO) and Web of Knowledge until end of November 2013) and grey literature were scrutinised. Inclusion criteria were applied to all records with a 10 % sample independently checked. Critique included (1) application of COSMIN checklists to assess the quality of each psychometric study, (2) critique of psychometric results of each study using Terwee et al. criteria and (3) development and critique of additional aspects of utility for each instrument. Two independent reviewers completed each critique. Synthesis included combining findings in a utility matrix.ResultsWe obtained 1157 records. Of these, 26 papers measuring patient experience of hospital quality of care were identified examining 11 international instruments. We found evidence of extensive theoretical/development work. The quality of methods and results was variable but mostly of a high standard. Additional aspects of utility found that (1) cost efficiency was mostly poor, due to the resource necessary to obtain reliable samples; (2) acceptability of most instruments was good and (3) educational impact was variable, with evidence on the ease of use, for approximately half of the questionnaires.ConclusionsSelecting the right patient experience instrument depends on a balanced consideration of aspects of utility, aided by the matrix. Data required for high stakes purposes requires a high degree of reliability and validity, while those used for quality improvement may tolerate lower levels of reliability in favour of other aspects of utility (educational impact, cost and acceptability).Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42013006754Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0089-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Payer mix & financial health drive hospital quality: Implications for value-based reimbursement policies

Documented disparities in health care quality in hospitals have been associated with patients’ race, gender, age, and insurance coverage. We used a novel data set with detailed hospital-level demographic, financial, quality-of-care, and outcome data across 265 California hospitals to examine the relationship between a hospital's financial health and its quality of care. We found that payer mix, the percentage of patients with private insurance coverage, is the key driver of a hospital's financial health. This is important because a hospital's financial health influences its quality of care and patient outcomes. Government policies that financially penalize hospitals on the basis of care quality and/or outcomes may disproportionately impair financial performance and quality investments at hospitals serving fewer privately insured patients. Such policies could exacerbate health disparities among patients at greatest risk of receiving substandard care.

Payer mix & financial health drive hospital quality: Implications for value-based reimbursement policies

Documented disparities in health care quality in hospitals have been associated with patients’ race, gender, age, and insurance coverage. We used a novel data set with detailed hospital-level demographic, financial, quality-of-care, and outcome data across 265 California hospitals to examine the relationship between a hospital’s financial health and its quality of care. We found that payer mix , the percentage of patients with private insurance coverage, is the key driver of a hospital’s financial health. This is important because a hospital’s financial health influences its quality of care and patient outcomes. Government policies that financially penalize hospitals on the basis of care quality and/or outcomes may disproportionately impair financial performance and quality investments at hospitals serving fewer privately insured patients. Such policies could exacerbate health disparities among patients at greatest risk of receiving substandard care.

Instruments to measure patient experience of health care quality in hospitals: a systematic review protocol

BackgroundImproving and sustaining the quality of care in hospitals is an intractable and persistent challenge. The patients’ experience of the quality of hospital care can provide insightful feedback to enable clinical teams to direct quality improvement efforts in areas where they are most needed. Yet, patient experience is often marginalised in favour of aspects of care that are easier to quantify (for example, waiting time). Attempts to measure patient experience have been hindered by a proliferation of instruments using various outcome measures with varying degrees of psychometric development and testing.Methods/DesignWe will conduct a systematic review and utility critique of instruments used to measure patient experience of health care quality in hospitals. The databases Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Psychological Information (Psych Info) and Web of Knowledge will be searched from inception until end November 2013. Search strategies will include the key words; patient, adult, hospital, secondary care, questionnaires, instruments, health care surveys, experience, satisfaction and patient opinion in various combinations. We will contact experts in the field of measuring patient experience and scrutinise all secondary references. A reviewer will apply an inclusion criteria scale to all titles and abstracts. A second reviewer will apply the inclusion criteria scale to a random 10% selection. Two reviewers will independently evaluate the methodological rigour of the testing of the instruments using the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist. Disagreements will be resolved through consensus. Instruments will be critiqued and grouped using van der Vleuten’s utility index. We will present a narrative synthesis on the utility of all instruments and make recommendations for instrument selection in practice.DiscussionThis systematic review of the utility of instruments to measure patient experience of hospital quality care will aid clinicians, managers and policy makers to select an instrument fit for purpose. Importantly, appropriate instrument selection will provide a mechanism for patients’ voices to be heard on the quality of care they receive in hospitals.PROSPERO registration CRD42013006754.

Accuracy of information as a mediator of IT and quality of healthcare

Hospital administrators, healthcare providers and healthcare delivery systems strive to provide safe and quality care for patients in very complex environments. Information technology (IT) has been taunted as a way to reduce medical errors while increasing the overall quality of healthcare in organisations that provide these services. This study investigates how clinical IT may impact the quality of healthcare in healthcare institutions through the effect of accuracy of information for the clinical decision making of registered nurses. Key informant method was used with a survey mailed and email. Response rate was 21.4%. A principal finding is that IT affects accuracy of information as well as the quality of healthcare in hospitals. Our analysis is an early investigation and guide to future research that helps to facilitate the accumulation of knowledge of the effects of the implementation of IT in healthcare organisations.

Validez y fiabilidad de un indicador sintético de calidad de la atención hospitalaria

Objective Benchmarking between different health organisations is a useful tool for improving quality, but it requires using valid and reliable indicators so that comparisons may be based on objective data. The aim of this work is to verify the validity and reliability of a synthetic hospital health care quality indicator. Material and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted over a five-year period on the Quality Plan indicators of 10 hospitals, under the model of the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM). Reliability was checked using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The validity was determined using a cluster analyses (dendrogram), examining relationships between different indicator results, and by means of an exploratory analysis of the correlations between the process indicators and results indicators proposed by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Results An «acceptable» reliability was found (α=0.759). No clusters were found that corresponded to the set of criteria of the EFQM model, or any significant correlations with the results indicators. Conclusions It is proposed to continue devising indicators that could empirically be shown to be valid in order to be incorporated into synthetic indicators, in such a way that the efficiency of health care management in all hospitals may be compared.