Ecomatemático (Jan 2017)
Evaluación de la calidad en la prestación de servicios de Salud por medio de series de tiempo enmarcado en la metodología Seis Sigma
Abstract
Given its obvious importance, health in Colombia is a fundamental issue in government programs at national, regional and local levels. Ensuring access to quality health services is pivotal to reducing poverty and inequality in the country. Cognizant of this need, authorities of the ESE Hospital Lázaro Hernández (HLH), (San Alberto, Department of Cesar, Colombia) intend to augment the quality of community services provided by the hospital. Said community is characterized by soaring levels of poverty, a high incidence of tropical diseases and an elevated floating population percentage coming from three different departments (Cesar, Norte de Santander, Santander), due to their geogra-phic border location. Objective: To contribute to improving quality of health services of said assistance center through the application of the Six Sigma methodology. Methods: A cross-sectional study on the perception of quality in health services, presenting the preliminary research advances, addressing health quality issues such as waiting-time performance and number of patients attended in the emergency area during 2015. The results of the measurement of service quality perception related to attention in areas such as emergency and external consultation, were collected through the SERVQUAL survey, an instrument that measures perception of quality in health services. The target population consists of patients treated during March and April of 2015 in the emergency and outpatient areas of the HLH. Results obtained are based on analysis of the waiting-time series and number of patients attended, in order to evaluate the perception of quality of services, using Statgraphics XVI, a computational tool. Results: The overall perception rating indicates that about 50% of the patients have low perceptions on the quality dimensions of services provided by HLH. Conclusions: The results indicate that patients are not satisfied with the perceived low quality services provided by the ESE HLH. It can therefore be recommended that hospital directives review processes related to the quality of services provided, as well as propose improvement policies according to the needs and conditions of the users.
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