QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PATIENT SAFETY ASSESSMENT THROUGH KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AT CHAUDHRY MUHAMMAD AKRAM TEACHING AND RESEARCH HOSPITAL

Abstract

Background: Quality assurance and patient safety are fundamental to healthcare systems. In Pakistan, tertiary care hospitals are increasingly adopting Key Performance Indicator (KPI) monitoring to address challenges such as inadequate staffing and poor documentation. This study evaluates the impact of standardized monitoring on clinical outcomes and institutional accountability.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess Quality Assurance and Patient Safety practices through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) at Chaudhry Muhammad Akram Teaching and Research Hospital.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January to December 2025, utilizing monthly data collection from all clinical departments and the emergency room. Data was gathered through structured proformas, medical record reviews. Analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 25, employing descriptive statistics to compare KPI percentages against predefined hospital benchmarks.
Results: The findings demonstrate significant improvements, with emergency assessment times dropping from 39 to 19 minutes and inpatient management plan documentation rising from 71.60% to 97.10%. The hospital maintained a perfect 0% rate for medication errors, adverse anesthesia events, and anesthesia-related mortality throughout the year. However, certain benchmarks remained "not achieved," including blood product wastage at 7.30% (target <5%) and the mandatory 100% compliance for informed consent and procedural record entries. Diagnostic services showed high accuracy, though the laboratory re-do rate spiked to 2.60% by the fourth quarter.

Conclusion: The study confirms that the hospital has successfully transitioned toward a high-performance, data-driven healthcare model by significantly improving clinical efficiency and safety. While clinical outcomes meet high standards, administrative gaps in resource management and documentation perfection remain the final hurdles. Systematic KPI monitoring is established as an essential tool for identifying deficiencies and sustaining excellence in tertiary healthcare delivery.