Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess labor productivity, perceived effectiveness, and sustainability of a national quality program that sought to stimulate efficiency gains through increased labor productivity while maintaining quality through implementing small-scale innovation projects. DESIGN: Longitudinal measures of labor productivity and quality were collected at baseline and after completion of the innovation projects. Perceived effectiveness and sustainability (measured by routinization) were assessed cross-sectionally after project completion. SETTING: This study was conducted in The Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-eight improvement projects in long-term care organizations. INTERVENTION: A national quality program to stimulate innovative approaches in long-term care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Labor productivity, perceived effectiveness, and sustainability were the main outcome measures. RESULTS: Labor productivity data were available for only 37 (38%) of the 98 projects, 33 (89%) of which demonstrated significantly improved efficiency. Perceived effectiveness was significantly associated with sustainability (0.29; p < .05), but not labor productivity. CONCLUSIONS: To achieve sustainability in long-term care, developers of innovative projects must collect better quality information on efficiency gains in terms of labor productivity and focus more on efficiency improvement. More research is necessary to explore relationships between labor productivity, perceived effectiveness, and sustainability.
