The Coimbra Cardio Thoracic Surgery Centre

Description

The case concerns the Centre for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (CCT) in the Portuguese University Hospital in Coimbra (HUC). The Centre has 60 hospital beds, four of them for transplants and a staff of 117 of which 70 are nurses. The CCT performed 1634 chirurgical operations in 2004 which makes it the greatest in the Iberian Peninsula. For instance, its specific interest in the mitral valve replacing with a success rate of 85% is unique internationally. In 1998 a programe was defined, in the form of a contract, between the CCT and the Board of the HUC, establishing objectives for productivity with associated prizes for performance. This case deals with establishing the evaluation system with its difficulties and results. Implementing the system was necessary to divide the prize by all the participants. The expression used in the case is “Divide the cake until the last slice”. The case is particularly interesting to study the evaluation and remuneration systems coherence and also to discuss the several criteria used for evaluation. The students should be aware after discussing the case of the benefits and the difficulties that the new remuneration system brought to the CCT, both from the point of view of production and human resources.

Keywords

Health Performance Evaluation Personnel Management