Using the balanced scorecard to measure Chinese and Japanese hospital performance.

Purpose: The objective of the paper is to confirm the feasibility and value of using the balanced scorecard (BSC) to measure performance in two hospitals in different countries.

Design/methodology/approach: One hospital from China and another from Japan were chosen and key indicators were selected according to the BSC framework. A comparative hospital performance measurement model was set up using the BSC framework to comprehensively compare hospital performance in two countries.