Health care delivery performance: service, outcomes, and resource stewardship.

As competition intensifies within the health care industry, patient satisfaction and service quality are providing the evidentiary basis for patient outcomes. We propose a conceptual model of three interrelated areas, service, health outcomes, and resource stewardship, all affected by the clinician-patient relationship. Our model considers the perspectives of the health care organization, the clinician, and the patient to define a more comprehensive measure of health care delivery performance. Research and managerial aspects, including implementation, are discussed.