Hospital Performance Indicators in Provision of Perinatal Services: A Qualitative Study

Area of Science:

• Medical research
• Public health
• Healthcare quality improvement

Background:

• Perinatal mortality rates are critical indicators of social development.
• International efforts focus on reducing maternal and perinatal mortality.
• Effective evaluation of perinatal services is essential for improving outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To gather expert opinions on hospital performance in perinatal service delivery.
• To identify key indicators for evaluating perinatal care quality.
• To understand challenges within healthcare systems affecting perinatal services.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study employing the Delphi technique.
• Focus group discussions with twelve multidisciplinary experts (pediatricians, perinatologists, neonatologists, nurses, midwives).
• Thematic analysis to extract major themes and sub-themes from expert consensus.

Main Results:

• Identified three core themes: Input/Structure, Process, and Outcome.
• Input/Structure includes human resources, physical space, equipment, and information systems.
• Process encompasses staff retraining, referral, follow-up, education, and audits; Outcome focuses on mortality and morbidity indices.

Conclusions:

• The study identified context-specific challenges in delivering perinatal health services.
• Key indicators for assessing hospital performance in perinatal services have been established.
• Findings provide a framework for enhancing the quality of perinatal care.