Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Medical quality: talking the talk vs. walking the walk

http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2011-0301-ED


 2011 Nov;135(11):1384-6.

Quality: walk the walk.

Source

Department of Pathology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, 11937 US Hwy 271, Tyler, TX 75708-3154, USA



"Quality slogans, bromides, truisms—these can be found now in almost all hospitals, along with the ever-present colorful paraphernalia, including stickers, lapel pins, and ‘‘good-deed’’ cards. These phrases are frequently catchy and easy to remember, but they are not very helpful. At best, they remind people that quality is necessary, something that should not need reminding. At worst, they are merely meaningless advertisement puffery meant to entice patients/customers, and may represent the continuing infantilization of society. Unfortunately, these slogans and stickers alone do not improve quality, but perversely may lull medical and hospital staff into complacency, believing that simply rote recitation of these ‘‘feel-good’’ slogans is all that is necessary to make patient care quality occur."

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