In an attempt to suggest a generalized approach to hospice program evaluation, the “structure-process-outcome” framework for assessing quality care, about which Dr. Avedis Donabedian has written extensively is applied to hospice settings. Examples of variables depicting hospice structure, process and outcome are presented, along with examples of their measurement. Refinements of this approach, requiring analysis of the interaction among such variables and identification of causal relationships among them, are suggested as areas for future development.
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