Health care quality assurance
Health care quality assurance is "activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps."[1]
Creating quality measures
Creating quality measures from clinical practice guidelines can be problematic.[2]
Measuring quality
Chart abstraction may underestimate quality.[3]
Improving quality
More experience, as measured by volume of care, is associated with better quality of care.[4]
Process control charts can be used to identify specific problems that need improvement.[5][6][7] Examples are assessing methods to obtain blood cultures[8], the impact of screening for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus[9] and comparing mortality in surgical units[10].
Public reporting of quality measures
A systematic review found that "publicly releasing performance data stimulates quality improvement activity at the hospital level. The effect of public reporting on effectiveness, safety, and patient-centeredness remains uncertain".[11]
References
- ↑ Anonymous (2024), Health care quality assurance (English). Medical Subject Headings. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ↑ Walter LC, Davidowitz NP, Heineken PA, Covinsky KE (2004). "Pitfalls of converting practice guidelines into quality measures: lessons learned from a VA performance measure". JAMA 291 (20): 2466–70. DOI:10.1001/jama.291.20.2466. PMID 15161897. Research Blogging.
- ↑ How well does chart abstraction measure quality? A...[Am J Med. 2000 - PubMed Result]. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
- ↑ Lin HC, Xirasagar S, Lin HC, Hwang YT (2008). "Does physicians' case volume impact inpatient care costs for pneumonia cases?". J Gen Intern Med 23 (3): 304-9. DOI:10.1007/s11606-007-0462-3. PMID 18043982. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Nelson EC, Splaine ME, Batalden PB, Plume SK (March 1998). "Building measurement and data collection into medical practice". Ann. Intern. Med. 128 (6): 460–6. PMID 9499330. [e]
- ↑ Lloyd, Robert M.; Carey, Raymond G. (1995). Measuring quality improvement in healthcare: a guide to statistical process control applications. White Plains, N.Y: Quality Resources. ISBN 0-527-76293-8.
- ↑ Staker, Larry V.; Carey, Raymond G. (2002). Improving Healthcare with Control Charts: Basic and Advanced SPC Methods and Case Studies. Milwaukee, Wis: ASQ Quality Press. ISBN 0-87389-562-2.
- ↑ Norberg A, Christopher NC, Ramundo ML, Bower JR, Berman SA (February 2003). "Contamination rates of blood cultures obtained by dedicated phlebotomy vs intravenous catheter". JAMA 289 (6): 726–9. PMID 12585951. [e]
- ↑ Harbarth S, Fankhauser C, Schrenzel J, et al (March 2008). "Universal screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus at hospital admission and nosocomial infection in surgical patients". JAMA 299 (10): 1149–57. DOI:10.1001/jama.299.10.1149. PMID 18334690. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Tekkis PP, McCulloch P, Steger AC, Benjamin IS, Poloniecki JD (April 2003). "Mortality control charts for comparing performance of surgical units: validation study using hospital mortality data". BMJ 326 (7393): 786–8. DOI:10.1136/bmj.326.7393.786. PMID 12689973. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Fung CH, Lim YW, Mattke S, Damberg C, Shekelle PG (2008). "Systematic review: the evidence that publishing patient care performance data improves quality of care". Ann. Intern. Med. 148 (2): 111–23. PMID 18195336. [e]
External links
- Hospital Compare (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)
- Joint Commission: Current Specification Manual for National Hospital Quality Measures
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- National Committee for Quality Assurance(description[1])
- National Quality Measures Clearinghouse
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services/The Joint Commission: National Hospital Quality Measures
- National Committee for Quality Assurance: HEDIS
- Lloyd, Robert M.; Carey, Raymond G. (1995). Measuring quality improvement in healthcare: a guide to statistical process control applications. White Plains, N.Y: Quality Resources. ISBN 0-527-76293-8.
- ↑ Iglehart JK (1996). "The National Committee for Quality Assurance". N. Engl. J. Med. 335 (13): 995-9. PMID 8786789. [e]