Universität zu Köln

Stöcker, Arno ORCID: 0000-0002-7685-2731 (2025). Physician behaviour and quality of care in healthcare. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The concept of quality of care is evolving, extending beyond traditional indicators such as health outcomes, safety, and effectiveness. Increasingly, factors such as the motivation of health care professionals, their communication and expertise, and the institutional quality culture are recognized as critical components in defining quality of care. At the center of this discourse are physicians, whose decisions and actions significantly influence both patient experiences and health outcomes. This work, structured across four independent studies, investigates how physicians’ actions and their preconditions affect the quality of health care in both outpatient and inpatient settings. It examines the multifaceted nature of health care quality, integrating individual physician actions with broader systemic factors. The findings demonstrate that physicians’ actions and performances are shaped not only by personal attitudes but also by environmental factors and institutional processes. In particular, the following research questions were addressed: How did physicians maintain and adapt their practice under challenging conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Study I)? How did physicians' attitudes towards treatments such as COVID-19 vaccination affect medical practice (Study II)? What role did social and organizational factors play in shaping patient safety and quality of care in hospitals (Study III)? And how did patient volume and medical staffing levels impacted obstetric care (Study IV)? Together, the research reveals the complex interplay of personal, social, and systemic dimensions in determining quality of health care, offering valuable insights into the perception of quality.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Stöcker, Arno arno.stoecker@gmx.de orcid.org/0000-0002-7685-2731 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-783742
Date:	2025
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Business Administration > Health Economics > Professorship for Business Administration and Health Care Management
Subjects:	Paranormal phenomena Social sciences Medical sciences Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language health services research UNSPECIFIED
Date of oral exam:	2 May 2025
Referee:	Name Academic Title Kuntz, Ludwig Prof. Dr. Pfaff, Holger Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/78374