Small and big quality in health care

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.

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