Bridging the availability-utilization gap: The issue of quality in the provision of health care

Abstract

The study for one of the articles in this issue suggests that physician-patient interaction in one of the referral medical centers in the country has deficiencies (1). Proper interpersonal communication and provider-patient interaction are among the measures for the process quality of care, and process is one of the three major parameters from which inferences can be drawn about the quality of health care, as it refers to what is actually done in giving and receiving care (2). The other two major parameters for measuring quality of health care are: structure and outcome. Structure refers to attributes of materials (such as facilities, equipment, and money), human (such as the number and qualification of personnel), and organizational (such as medical staff organization, and methods of peer review and reimbursement) resources; while outcome denotes the effects of care on health status of patients and populations (3). Another important outcome measure of health care quality is patient satisfaction, particularly at the level of provider-patient interaction