How can the Care Guidelines improve the quality and efficiency of health care?

We define quality as the attainment of the desired health status with patient satisfaction. We define efficiency as bringing about the desired outcome for the patient without wasting resources, effort or expense.

Efficiency and quality converge. Higher quality care can be achieved when patients are diagnosed and treated quickly and effectively. Much of the waste and/or inefficiency in our healthcare system is due to delays and lack of appropriate infrastructure support. For example, a patient with chest pain is admitted to a hospital on Friday and is forced to wait until Monday for a cardiac stress test because that service is not available on the weekend. Better quality and efficiency of care would allow the patient to have the stress test on Friday and receive appropriate treatment immediately.