Areas of Corruption in the Health Sector in Jordan as Perceived by Local Community Representatives

Corruption is a multifaceted social, political, ethical and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Despite that Jordan spends about 8% of its GDP on health; very little attention has been paid by researchers and policy makers to corruption and integrity in the health care delivery system. This study aims at identifying areas of corruption in the health sector in Jordan, factors that promote corrupt practices and policy directions to prevent and control them as perceived by local community representatives. The study adopted the qualitative approach utilizing the focus group method to collect data. A total of 36 convenient sample of local community representatives from the Middle, North and South Regions of Jordan participated in the study (12 from each region). A conceptual model which addresses the corrupt practices of the main actors: providers, patients, and suppliers, was used during. The findings of the three focus groups were put together by the investigators and analyzed by the principal investigator.The results showed that areas of corruption among providers were perceived mainly in requesting unneeded investigations and medical procedures, referring patients to certain providers in order to achieve financial gains (commission), prescribing expensive medicine and wasting working hours.  Areas of corruption caused by patients were perceived in the confiscation of the health insurance cards,  trying to get free care by under-reporting their income and deceiving insurers to obtain benefits. Causes of corruption and interventions to improve integrity in the health sector were also addressed by the participants. Keywords: corruption, health sector, integrity, local community representatives

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LEADERS AND NONLEADERS IN THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

The objective of this study was to determine if there were any significant differences between hospital leaders and non-leaders in their perceptions of the organizational commitment to quality in the governmental accredited hospitals in Jordan. A survey instrument, designed to measure the level of organizational commitment to quality, questionnaire, was administered to the healthcare professionals in the five governmental accredited hospitals in Jordan. Study sample included 1290 employees. The response rate was 83.6 % of the total questionnaires distributed. Of the1079 respondents, 141 were leaders and 938 were non-leaders. Two sample T test was used to compare the responses between these groups. There were significant differences found between leaders and non-leaders in their perceptions of organization’s commitment to qualit

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LEADERS AND NONLEADERS IN THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

The objective of this study was to determine if there were any significant differences between hospital leaders and non-leaders in their perceptions of the organizational commitment to quality in the governmental accredited hospitals in Jordan. A survey instrument, designed to measure the level of organizational commitment to quality, questionnaire, was administered to the healthcare professionals in the five governmental accredited hospitals in Jordan. Study sample included 1290 employees. The response rate was 83.6 % of the total questionnaires distributed. Of the1079 respondents, 141 were leaders and 938 were non-leaders. Two sample T test was used to compare the responses between these groups. There were significant differences found between leaders and non-leaders in their perceptions of organization’s commitment to qualit

THE IMPACT OF APPLYING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES ON THE OVERALL HOSPITAL EFFECTIVENESS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE HCAC ACCREDITED GOVERNMENTAL HOSPITALS IN JORDAN

The present study was conducted to bring the attention to the importance of applying total quality management (TQM) and their effects on organizational effectiveness, and particularly the hospital effectiveness. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of applying TQM on the overall hospital effectiveness in the accredited governmental hospitals in Jordan that accredited from Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC). The study population represented all health care professionals working in the five HCAC accredited governmental hospitals who were working for more than three years in the same hospitals. Study sample included 1290 employees. The response rate was 83.6 % of the total questionnaires distributed. TQM principles were: Leadership commitment to quality, Customer focus, Continuous improvement, Teamwork, Employee involvement, education and training. Study findings showed a significant impact of all TQM principles on the overall hospital effectiveness (p< 0.05). Using multiple linear regression analysis showed that TQM is a strong predictor of hospital performance (Beta =0.818, t=46.613, R2= 0.669, and p value = 0.000). Taken together, applying the principles of TQM increases the overall hospital effectiveness in the HCAC accredited governmental hospitals in Jordan

PATIENT'S SAFETY CULTURE: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS: REVIEW ARTICLE

This study was conducted to review the literature towards patient's safety culture in terms and applications. Patient's safety is an essential component of healthcare quality. Even with continuous alertness, health care providers face many challenges in today’s health care environment in trying to keep patients safe. Patient's safety is now a required subject that can provide feedback to the healthcare systems with the possibility of implementing improvement measures based on the identification of specific problems. The culture of patient's safety can be analyzed at different levels of the healthcare system, through identifying strengths and weaknesses that configure the way that healthcare professionals think, behave and approach their work. Continuous evolutions in healthcare increase the importance of establishing and maintaining a culture of patient's safety. Therefore research on safety culture is needed to raise awareness about the role of culture in promoting a safer environment. Patient's safety culture examines how the perceptions, behaviors, and competencies of individuals and groups determine an organization’s commitment, style, and proficiency in health and safety management and it is used by organizations to determine targets for interventions to improve patient's safety, evaluate the success of patient's safety interventions, fulfill regulatory requirements, and conduct benchmarking. Patient's safety culture is approached from different perspectives or dimensions such as reporting the frequency and severity of incidents, which so far are not taken into account by hospital staff. In this sense, an ongoing commitment must exist by management to promote and facilitate the culture of patient's safety by providing the necessary tools to identify the most prevalent cultural pattern

IS THE ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP COMMITTMENT PRINCIPLE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TQM PRINCIPLE ON HOSPITAL EFFECTIVENESS?

Total Quality management (TQM) has many principles, and the objective of this study was to determine highest TQM principle which has the greater impact on overall hospital effectiveness as perceived by healthcare professionals working in accredited governmental hospitals in Jordan. A study survey instrument, designed to measure the impact of applying TQM principles on overall hospital effectiveness, then to find out the greater TQM principle which influence more the overall hospital effectiveness, Study questionnaire was administered to the healthcare professionals in the five governmental accredited hospitals in Jordan, The data collection where 1290 questionnaires. The response rate was 83.6% of the total questionnaires distributed. TQM principles were: Leadership commitment to quality, Customer focus, Continuous improvement, Teamwork, Employee involvement, and education and training. Multiple regression analysis using Beta Coefficient conducted, the result shows that the greater TQM principle which affects the overall hospital effectiveness organization leadership commitment to quality and the least was education and training