Evaluation of Health Provider Compliance

Health provider compliance is assessed by whether the appropriate diagnostic and management actions (prevention, therapy, and rehabilitation) are performed by the health provider. These actions are known as 'clinical processes'. Studies of health provider compliance should be restricted to situations in which the causal relationship between the process of care and patient outcome is established (i.e., there is a demonstration of efficacy).

Information from evaluations of the ability of different health professionals to apply efficacious interventions is also included in this category. An example of this type of evaluation is a study conducted in Thailand to compare the health care and outcomes of women receiving postpartum tubal ligations by either specially trained nurse midwives or doctors (Dusitsin et al 1980).