Donabedian Model of Healthcare Quality Evaluation:
This model classifies quality indicators into three domains:
1. Structure (= Input): Physical and organizational resources -- staff, facilities, equipment. Tells us what is available to provide care.
2. Process: Clinical actions taken -- diagnosis, treatment decisions, prescriptions, procedures. Tells us what was done to the patient.
3. Outcome: The result of care -- recovery, restoration of function, patient survival, complication rates, patient satisfaction. Tells us what happened to the patient as a result of care.
Why Outcome is most important for clinical management: Outcome is the gold standard for judging clinical quality because it captures the net effect of all structural and process factors on the patient's health. A health centre may have good structure and appropriate processes, but if patient outcomes are poor, the clinical management is considered inadequate.
Quote from Park's Textbook of PSM: "The outcome of medical care, in terms of recovery, restoration of function and of survival, has been frequently used as an indicator of the quality of medical care."
\[\boxed{\text{Outcome}}\]