Master in Quality Management and Safety in Health Services

Quality in health care was defined by Avedis Donavedian as “The extent to which the care provided in Health is capable of achieving the most favorable balance between risks and benefits. There are three main approaches to health quality assessment: Structure, Process, and Outcome. A product or service is of quality when its tangible and intangible characteristics satisfy the needs and expectations of its users.

From the 20th century, the success of organizations depended on the definition of functions, the specialization of tasks and control, among others. The current environment, characterized mainly by rapid changes, high levels of uncertainty and increased competition in the markets, requires organizations to improve quality management based on change, since only companies that manage to adapt to the new environment in a flexible way will manage to survive and be successful.

But not only the recipients of health services expect and request quality care, professionals and managers also share this concern, even out of economic interest; Thus, quality has become an indispensable requirement for economic survival and, for some also, for social responsibility and moral integrity.

However, it is not enough that users want and demand better services; nor that health institutions and professionals want to provide quality medical care, it is also required to have expert professional staff that has a series of knowledge, tools and techniques that, properly ordered, structured and combined, make up a system of quality that satisfies the needs and expectations of health service users .  

One of the expressions of poor quality in health services is the presence of adverse events in patients as a result of unsafe health practice. 

There is no doubt that health care interventions are carried out with the purpose of benefiting the patient, but they can also cause harm. The complex mix of processes, technologies and human interactions that make up the modern health care delivery system can bring significant benefits. However, it also carries an unavoidable risk of adverse events, and they do occur far too often.

Thus, patient safety has become a priority in health systems around the world.