The quality criteria formulated here are based on the model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The criteria were divided into nine sectors which, taken together, produce a comprehensive picture of the quality of health management activities:

1. Leadership & Health policy
2. People’s responsibility for health
3. Policy & Strategy
4. Partnerships & Resources
5. Processes
6. People results
7. Customer results
8. Society results
9. Key performance results on health

Health management activities are often not sufficiently integrated into structures and routines of the organization. Therefore they often remain isolated. Even successful projects are not passed on to other sectors within the organization or established on a permanent basis. Another deficiency, which often leads to the failure of health management measures, is the lack of prior needs assessment of the organization’s requirements. When the criteria are used, emphasis is placed on the extent to which the activities are pursued systematically and on the degree to which they are integrated into the organization. For this purpose the improvement and learning cycle, as pictured in the scheme, is very important.

The nine aspects for health management and quality are described in more detail in this downloadable document.