📄 Category

health systems and quality improvement

104 papers

Improving health systems means finding smarter ways to deliver care, reduce errors, and ensure patients receive the best possible treatment. This field explores how hospitals and clinics can function more effectively, focusing on the practical changes that lead to better outcomes for everyone involved. It is less about discovering new drugs and more about refining the everyday processes that keep our healthcare networks running smoothly.

At Gist.Science, we track every new preprint in this category from medRxiv to bring you the latest research immediately. Our team processes these papers to provide both detailed technical summaries for experts and clear, plain-language explanations for anyone interested in how healthcare can improve. We believe that understanding these systemic changes is vital for building a more resilient future.

Below are the latest studies and insights from the health systems and quality improvement community, sorted by their recent submission dates.

📄 health systems and quality improvement

Mapping the socio-technical causes of overheating risk and unequal thermal burden in hospitals in England: a qualitative systems inquiry using AcciMap

This study employs a qualitative systems inquiry using AcciMap to demonstrate that hospital overheating in England is a complex socio-technical challenge driven by fragmented ownership and unequal adaptive capacity, requiring coordinated interventions across governance, infrastructure, and preparedness systems rather than being treated solely as an estates issue.

Filingeri, D., Blount, H., Koch Esteves, N., Daniels, T., Aceves-Gonzalez, C., Brooks, K., Jenkins, K., James, P., Sach (…)2026-09-15
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Do established comorbidity scores predict in-hospital mortality equally well in women and men? A nationwide validation in 166.7 million German inpatient cases, 2010-2024

In a nationwide validation of 166.7 million German inpatient cases, three established comorbidity scores were found to be equally discriminative but systematically miscalibrated between women and men, supporting the need for sex-specific recalibration to ensure fair hospital benchmarking.

Decker, J. A., Mirbagheri, H., Hellbrueck, S., Pfadenhauer, L. M., Seeland, U., Kroencke, T., Scheurig-Muenkler, C.2026-09-15
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Health workforce preparedness for sepsis care in Bahrain: a cross-sectional survey of guideline knowledge, attitudes, and practices

This cross-sectional survey of 260 healthcare professionals in Bahrain reveals that while general knowledge and attitudes toward sepsis management are largely positive, significant gaps persist in familiarity with specific diagnostic tools like qSOFA and in the consistent adherence to critical clinical practices such as early antibiotic administration.

Ebrahim, K. A. O., Jaber, A. A., Mirza, R. B.2026-09-13
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Service Provider Competence, Motivation, and Resource Availability as Determinants of Quality Healthcare Delivery: A Cross-Sectional Study at Makeni Regional Hospital, Sierra Leone

This cross-sectional study at Makeni Regional Hospital in Sierra Leone identifies service provider competence, motivation, and resource availability as significant determinants of quality healthcare delivery, revealing that while most staff are competent, motivation levels are critically low and resource gaps remain a major challenge despite universal agreement on their impact on care quality.

Lebbe, A., Jimmy, A. I., Kamara, S. N., Gary, L. P.2026-09-12
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Coaching for quality improvement under performance-based contracting: a theory-of-change evaluation in Honduras

This theory-of-change evaluation in Honduras reveals that while practice coaching successfully activated pathways for quality improvement in primary healthcare through enhanced professional identity, collective efficacy, and trust, its broader impact was constrained by a misalignment between the intervention's learning-oriented logic and the country's punitive performance-based contracting system.

Munar, W. J., Aranda, L. E., Lauria, M. E., Bernal Lara, P., Innocenti, C., Rodriguez, M.2026-09-11
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Surgical Site Infections in Tanzania: A Five-Year Trend and Variation Analysis of National Surveillance Data, 2021-2025

This retrospective analysis of national surveillance data from 138 Tanzanian health facilities (2021–2025) reveals that while overall surgical site infection rates declined alongside a surge in surgical volume, persistent increases in caesarean section infections and higher rates in primary-level facilities underscore the urgent need for strengthened perioperative infection prevention and control measures.

Charles, C., Masatu, J., Mbise, F., Nassoro, O., David, L., Marandu, L., Andrea, C., Abdulahi, M., Msanjila, U., Beda, N (…)2026-09-11
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Antimalarial Pharmacotherapy Gaps in Nigerian Children Under Five: A Predictive Machine Learning Analysis of Care-Seeking, Testing, and ACT Treatment Using NDHS 2023-24

This study utilizing 2023-24 NDHS data and four machine learning models reveals that household and maternal characteristics poorly predict antimalarial care gaps in Nigerian children under five, though financial barriers consistently emerge as a significant determinant of suboptimal ACT treatment, suggesting cost reduction at the point of sale as a key intervention target.

Nosa-Ihaza, E. A., Shepherd-Moses, G., Okenwa, E. D., Nosa-Ihaza, U. N.2026-09-11
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Artificial Intelligence and Mobile Health Technologies for Improved Healthcare Access: Design and Pilot Evaluation of an Integrated Digital Health Platform for a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

This study presents the design and pilot evaluation of a locally deployed, AI-assisted mobile health platform at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, demonstrating its technical feasibility, high usability, and substantial clinical concordance in improving healthcare access for Nigerian university students.

Ochem, O. E., Ezego, O. P.2026-09-06✓ Author reviewed ⓘ
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Changes in Spatial Access to Obstetric Care in Germany from 2014 to 2024: A Nationwide Travel Time Analysis

Between 2014 and 2024, a 23.1% reduction in German maternity wards, driven by a small number of strategic closures, significantly increased critical travel times for over 100,000 women and exacerbated regional disparities in obstetric care access.

Kniffka, M. S., Ullrich-Kniffka, N., Bertens, L. C. M., Been, J. V., Lee, D. S., Koenigbauer, J. T., Goepfrich, A., Scho (…)2026-09-03
📄 health systems and quality improvement

Patient safety culture, teamwork, and observed perioperative safety compliance in a high-volume surgical unit

In a high-volume Indonesian surgical unit, a prospective observational study found that while patient safety culture directly improved perioperative safety compliance and fostered better teamwork, the latter did not significantly mediate the relationship between culture and observed checklist adherence.

Sahputri, V., Angeline, A., Tenggono, E.2026-09-02