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Review
. 2009 Feb;123(2):741-749.
doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181958ee2.

Measuring quality of surgical care: is it attainable?

Kevin C Chung  1 , Rod J Rohrich
Affiliations
Review

Measuring quality of surgical care: is it attainable?

Kevin C Chung et al. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2009 Feb.

Abstract

Healthcare quality has emerged as an important discussion topic for the American people. With the continued lack of health insurance coverage for over 15 percent of Americans, questions are being posed regarding why the United States has spent $2.1 trillion per year in healthcare and is still unable to provide the highest quality of healthcare in the world. The World Health Organization's 2000 World Health Report ranked the United States at 24 out of 191 member countries in healthcare indices. Because of a looming reduction in the number of Americans covered through the Medicare and Medicaid programs due to budgetary constraints, many initiatives have been proposed to cut the cost of healthcare and at the same time improve the quality of the American system. In this article, the authors summarize the history of these quality initiatives and discuss current and future directions of programs to achieve better healthcare for the country. They also discuss how the American Society of Plastic Surgeons is engaging national organizations to be part of the solution for this crisis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
National Health Expenditures by year, 1960-2006 (billions of dollars) Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary: Data from the National Health Statistics Group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Donabedian's Three Components of Healthcare Quality Adapted from Donabedian (21)
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Lean Manufacturing Cycle of Quality Improvement Adapted from Kim et al (32)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Health Expenditure Accounts . Highlights. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. US Department of Health and Human Services; 2006. 2006.
    1. The World Health Report 2000. Health Systems: Improving Performance. Geneva, Switzerland: 2000.
    1. Catlin A, Cowan C, Hartman M, et al. National health spending in 2006: a year of change for prescription drugs. Health Aff (Millwood) 2008;27:14–29. - PubMed
    1. Davis K, Schoen C, Schoenbaum SC, et al. Mirror, mirror on the wall: An international update on the comparative performance of American health care. The Commonwealth Fund; New York: 2007.
    1. Health insurance coverage: Early release of estimates from the National Health Interview Survey . National Center of Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services; Hyattville, MD: 2007. 2006.

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