Factors driving differences in the adoption of quality management practices among hospitals

Abstract

Background Although all hospitals aim to deliver high-quality care, there is considerable variation in their adoption of quality management (QM) practices. Organizational and environmental factors are known to drive strategic decision-making in hospitals, but their impact on the adoption of QM practices remains unclear. Purpose Our study aims to identify multiple organizational and environmental factors that explain variation in the adoption of QM practices among hospitals and to explore mechanisms underlying these relationships. Methodology We conducted a two-phase, sequential mixed-methods study of German acute care hospitals. The quantitative phase used between-effects regressions to identify factors explaining variation in the number of QM practices adopted by hospitals from 2015 to 2019. The qualitative phase used semistructured interviews with quality managers to gain in-depth insights. Results The number of QM practices adopted by a hospital was significantly associated with factors like hospital size and the presence of an emergency department or QM steering committee. Our qualitative findings highlighted potential mechanisms such as the presence of an emergency department serving as a proxy for organizational complexity or urgency of case-mix. Conclusion We provide an overview of factors driving QM adoption in hospitals, extending beyond the focus on single factors in previous research. Future studies could explore additional factors highlighted by our interviewees. Practice Implications Our results can inform interventions to strengthen QM in hospitals and guide future research on this topic.