Application of Variable Statistics Methods for Assessing the Medical Personnel Activity

In the conditions of health care reform, when approaches to the management of medical institutions change in order to magnify their autonomy, there is a need to introduce an adequate system of assessing medical personnel activity. Mandated assessment of medical personnel by comparing individual performance averages to external targets is standard practice in many health care systems. The purpose of the research was to study the possibilities of applying the methods of variation statistics to assessment of medical personnel at the present stage of transformation of the health care system. Material and methods. The possibilities of using classical statistical methods, variation statistics were evaluated using the analysis of the results of work of medical staff which were recorded by the information system of medical institutions. Historical, bibliographic and medical statistical methods were also used. Results and discussion. We found out that the basis of the medical personnel evaluation system is the interrelation of the three agreed groups of key indicators: business, labor behavior and performance. It is proved that changes in the health care system associated with improving its efficiency require the use of statistical estimates of quantitative and qualitative indicators of the work of medical personnel. The system of medical personnel assessment in a health care institution, based on a statistic approach, has a purpose to ultimately increase the labor efficiency of all categories of workers and the effectiveness of health care. The effectiveness of health system can be reached by cooperation of three main groups of participants, as follows medical service users (wide circle of population), health system managers and medical personnel. It is medical personnel who are able to work the way they can react on population's requests fairly and effectively to get the best result. Assessment of medical staff provides for the comparison of certain elements of their work with the relevant standards, requirements, and parameters. This comparison can be most adequately carried out by statistical methods, starting with means of descriptive and variation statistics, and ending with complex technologies, for example, «Six Sigma». The «Six Sigma» is methodological improvement developed in the manufacturing industry and has been applied to healthcare. This concept provides a quality management system with many useful tools for managing quality. Conclusions. The study has showed that in the era of quantitative management, new approaches to management, when mathematical and statistical methods are widely used, formalized assessments of the activities of medical personnel can contribute to improving the efficiency of medical care.