The National Roundtable on Health Care Quality was established in 1995 by the Institute of Medicine. The Roundtable consists of experts formally appointed through procedures of the National Research Council (NRC) who represent both public and private-sector perspectives and appropriate areas of substantive expertise (not organizations). From the public sector, heads of appropriate Federal agencies serve. It offers a unique, nonadversarial environment to explore ongoing rapid changes in the medical marketplace and the implications of these changes for the quality of health and health care in this nation. The Roundtable has a liaison panel focused on quality of care in managed care organizations. The Roundtable convenes nationally prominent representatives of the private and public sector (regional, state and federal), academia, patients, and the health media to analyze unfolding issues concerning quality, to hold workshops and commission papers on significant topics, and when appropriate, to produce periodic statements for the nation on quality of care matters. By providing a structured opportunity for regular communication and interaction, the Roundtable fosters candid discussion among individuals who represent various sides of a given issue.

The National Roundtable on Health Care Quality was established in 1995 by the Institute of Medicine. The Roundtable consists of experts formally appointed through procedures of the National Research Council (NRC) who represent both public and private-sector perspectives and appropriate areas of substantive expertise (not organizations). From the public sector, heads of appropriate Federal agencies serve. It offers a unique, nonadversarial environment to explore ongoing rapid changes in the medical marketplace and the implications of these changes for the quality of health and health care in this nation. The Roundtable has a liaison panel focused on quality of care in managed care organizations. The Roundtable convenes nationally prominent representatives of the private and public sector (regional, state and federal), academia, patients, and the health media to analyze unfolding issues concerning quality, to hold workshops and commission papers on significant topics, and when appropriate, to produce periodic statements for the nation on quality of care matters. By providing a structured opportunity for regular communication and interaction, the Roundtable fosters candid discussion among individuals who represent various sides of a given issue.

This ground-breaking book addresses the critical, growing need among health care administrators and practitioners to measure the effectiveness of quality improvement efforts. Written by respected healthcare quality professionals, Measuring Quality Improvement in Healthcare covers practical applications of the tools and techniques of statistical process control (SPC), including control charts, in healthcare settings. The authors' straightforward discussions of data collection, variation, and process improvement set the context for the use and interpretation of control charts. Their approach incorporates "the voice of the customer" as a key element driving the improvement processes and outcomes. The core of the book is a set of 12 case studies that show how to apply statistical thinking to health care process, and when and how to use different types of control charts. The practical, down-to-earth orientation of the book makes it accessible to a wide readership. "Only authors who have used statistics and control charts to solve real-world healthcare problems could have written a book so practical and timely." - Barry S. Bader, Publisher The Quality Letter for Healthcare Leaders "Many clinicians and other healthcare leaders underestimate the great contributions that better statistical thinking could make toward reducing costs and improving outcomes. This fascinating and timely book is a fine guide for getting started." - Donald M. Berwick, M.D. President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Contents: Planning Your CQI Journey, Preparing to Collect Data, Data Collection, Understanding Variation, Using Run and Control Charts to Analyze Process Variation, Control Chart Case Studies, Developing Improvement Strategies, Using Patient Surveys for CQI, Formulas for Calculating Control Limits

Questions concerning the notion of quality of life, its definition, and its ap plications for purposes of assessment and measurement in social and medical contexts, have been widely discussed in Scandinavia during the last ten years. To a great extent this discussion mirrors the international develop ment in the area. Several methods for the assessment and measurement of quality of life have been borrowed from the UK and the US and then further developed in northern Europe. But there has also been an internal develop ment. This holds in particular for the social arena, where Scandinavia has had a special tradition both in theory and practice. In this volume an attempt is made to illustrate some aspects of the philo sophical, and in general theoretical, discussion concerning quality of life in Scandinavia. In addition, some prominent scholars from other parts of Europe, i. e. , France, the Netherlands, the UK and Italy, have been invited to contribute. The volume is divided into three sections. The first contains philosophical analyses of the general notion of quality of life and proposes a number of different explications. The second section considers various ap plications of the notion of quality of life in health care. The papers serve to disentangle some intellectual and ethical problems that stem from these ap plications. The third section is more practical and focuses on methods of measuring quality of life in medicine and health care.

Written by an internationally-recognized expert in the field of quality management, this book will serve as your guide for planning and implementing a successful quality measurement program in your healthcare facility. It begins by presenting an overview of the context for quality measurement, the forces influencing the demand for quality reform, how to listen to the voice of the customer, and the characteristics of quality that customers value most. You'll also learn how to select and define indicators to collect data and how to organize data into a dashboard that can provide feedback on your progress toward quality measurement. Finally, this book shows you how to analyze your data by detailing how variation lives in your data, and whether this variation is acceptable. Case studies are provided to demonstrate how quality measurement can be applied to clinical as well as operational aspects of healthcare delivery.

A 'how-to' or 'cookbook' style book, setting out why patient-based measures are important, their history, and how to develop and select quality of life and related measures to assess outcomes in the health care workplace. For those interested in a more in-depth understanding of the area, or whose curiosity has been piqued, there would also be brief sections in each chapter that provide a more detailed examination of relevant theoretical or technical issues.

This publication describes what international comparable quality measures are currently available and how to link these measures to quality policies such as accreditation, practice guidelines, pay-for-performance, national safety programmes and quality reporting.

Health cost is escalating. Today health care systems are responsible for a considerable proportion of public expenses. Patient safety became a major concern and evolved as a global problem with the increase in public perception on adverse events. As a result, improving the quality of care and measuring performance using effective measurement tools became major public and political issues challenging health care organizations. In response to this, considerable effort and expenses have been devoted to develop and implement quality initiatives in health care organizations. It is essential that the assessment of quality initiatives use evidence-based measurements to evaluate their outcomes. Joint Commission International (JCI), a wholly-controlled non profit affiliate of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) was established with a goal to continuously improve the level of healthcare organizations by introducing international standards and indicators applicable to different countries around the globe. Anecdotal evidence and numerous testimonials suggest performance improvement, yet no empirical studies have been conducted to demonstrate the overall benefits of applying the JCI standards, in countries outside the US. This book presents a robust methodology to measure quality performance of health care organizations and evaluate the effectiveness of JCI standards in improving the quality of care. The book is based on a study that used a holistic performance measurement model to measure the effect of the newly developed JCI standards on the perceived quality performance and the progress toward organizational excellence of a 400-bed hospital in a developing country. The study used a longitudinal quantitative design over a period of 15 months. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 250 staff, 250 patients and families, 200 patients' medical records, and 60 self-assessment surveys based on the accreditation bodies' approach. The results showed a significant perceived improvement in the overall organizational performance index 15 months after the implementation of JCI standards. The results highlighted many areas of strength in the standards, mainly in their impact on organizational excellence, quality improvement and patients' safety, leadership and management performance, patients' satisfaction and delight, organizational learning, organizational ethical performance, and documentation. The results also identified opportunities for improvement in the JCI standards with respect to human resource management and the absence of standards that address issues existing in organizations with corporate structures.