Development of indicators for patient care and monitoring standards for secondary health care services of Mumbai.

Background: The Qualitative aspect of health care delivery is one of the major factors in reducing morbidity and mortality in a health care setup. The expanding suburban secondary health care delivery facilities of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai are an important part of the healthcare backbone of Mumbai and therefore the quality of care delivered here needed standardization.
Material and Methods: The project was completed over a period of one year from Jan to Dec, 2013 and implemented in three phases. The framework with components and sub-components were developed and formats for data collection were standardized. The benchmarks were based on past performance in the same hospital and probability was used for development of normal range. An Excel spreadsheet was developed to facilitate data analysis.
Results: The indicators comprise of 3 components--Statutory Requirements, Patient care & Cure and Administrative efficiency. The measurements made, pointed to the broad areas needing attention.
Conclusion: The Indicators for patient care and monitoring standards can be used as a self assessment tool for health care setups for standardization and improvement of delivery of health care services.