Indicatori per il monitoraggio dei dipartimenti materno-infantili

he main aim of this paper is to analyze how well Women’s and Children’s Directorates that successfully balance efficiency and appropriateness monitor their performances. National performance indicators (PNE data by AGENAS and SDO data by the Ministry of Health) may not be sufficient to govern the system. The study presents the literature on performance indicators in clinical directorates and then applies this framework to Italian Directorates. Data have been gathered through an online survey. The target population was identified on the basis of efficiency and appropriateness: Directorates with efficiency scores above a threshold, with less than 30% of primary cesarean sections, and a minimum of 1.000 deliveries per year were chosen. On the basis of these criteria we identified 44 structures belonging to 40 departments. Of these, 26 managers completed the questionnaire and provided results we discuss for policy recommendations.