Perceptual measures of quality: a tool to improve nursing home systems

Improvements in nursing home efficiency and quality typically have not addressed the needs of the entire customer base. The focus of most quality measures used in a health care setting is "technical," and perceptual or patient and family perspectives have been neglected. Data obtained from a survey of customers using services from a chain of nursing homes measured perceptual quality; the data are presented here in a variety of formats that may aid management in organizing and understanding better such information. The goal is to provide management with a tool to identify current strengths, as well as those areas needing attention. If nursing homes are operated without knowledge of perceptual quality data, their improvement efforts are unlikely to adequately address the needs of all their customers.