Why We Have a Quality Problem
In a survey of 1,000 U.S. hospitals, just half the boards rated quality of care as one of their two top priorities. Only 44% reported that quality of care was important for evaluating the performance of the chief executive officer (CEO).
Remember Goodman’s Theorem: If providers don’t compete on price, they don’t compete on quality either.
Hospitals don’t complete on quality because high quality doesn’t pay them any more; and poor quality doesn’t compensate them any less. Indeed, hospital-acquire infections (e.g. poor quality) actually pays better because hospitals often get paid to fix their mistakes.
The more I think about it, the more I think that Goodman’s theorem is correct. Is it published anywhere?