A Roadmap for Improving Healthcare Service Quality‪.‬

INTRODUCTION Patient-centered care has been Mayo Clinic's focus for more than 100 years. The organization's primary value, "the needs of the patient come first," extends beyond clinical needs to include the need for service of the highest quality. Healthcare reform legislation has focused greater attention on quality and value and what they mean to healthcare consumers. Smoldt and Cortese (2007) contend that value is created for patients and payers when organizations deliver the best clinical outcomes and service in the safest environment at the lowest cost over time. Paying for value is a pillar of healthcare reform. Under the value-based purchasing (VBP) program, reimbursement for inpatient Medicare services will be determined by a combination of clinical quality and service quality measures. We anticipate continued future efforts to increase transparency in healthcare quality data, as well as a VBP program in outpatient Medicare services. To provide the best possible service and to ensure that Mayo Clinic Arizona (MCA) is well positioned for VBP, widely accepted service quality principles were incorporated in a seven-prong, data- and accountabilitydriven model. The framework provides a structured, comprehensive approach for healthcare organizations that are beginning or rethinking their service quality journey.