[Usage of control charts in monitoring primary health care performance]

Monitoring and evaluation are basic components of any health program. Control charts show clearly the process performance trend longitudinally and help managers and staff to detect general and specific variations and evaluate the process performance correctly. This study was conducted to design and utilize control charts in the primary health care (PHC) system. This study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the average weekly, monthly and seasonal delays in receiving health services were compared retrospectively. In the second stage, appropriate control charts were introduced with due consideration of the PHC system. More than 95% of the weekly average delays were below the upper control limit, while in 100% of the cases the monthly and seasonal averages were under the upper control limit. Desirable health outcomes result from appropriate services. It is necessary to monitor health processes coverage and performance with simple and specific indicators. With regard to the health process outputs in the PHC system, it is suggested that the R-X, np and C charts be used in monitoring processes.The control charts help the service providers to determine and manage process performance by gathering simple, applicable data. Some of the advantages of using these charts are the possibility of longitudinal surveys, simplicity of the calculation methods, and their high applicability.