Patient data critical to hospital-wide quality

Health care's interest in quality management has followed the lead of the manufacturing industry, originally focusing on retrospective review of products and outcomes and eventually undertaking concurrent reviews focused on processes. Critical to such reviews is a healthcare organization's use of an information system that incorporates departmental data into a hospital-wide framework, includes objective criteria for evaluating procedures and outcomes, and tracks modifications to an organization's processes for care delivery. The goal of an integrated, patient-centered information system is to establish a continuous cycle for improving clinical and administrative quality within an organization.