Utilizing a disease management approach to improve ESRD patient outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Anand, Shaan; Nissenson, Allen R

2002-01-01

In this era of processes and systems to improve quality, disease management is one methodology to improve care delivery and outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In most disease management systems a senior renal nurse coordinates all aspects of the patient's care and ensures that the prescribed and necessary care is delivered for both CKD-related and comorbid conditions. The nurse also continually monitors outcomes on quality indicators and key performance measures. These outcome data are then aggregated and analyzed, are compared with local and national benchmarks, and drive the continuous quality improvement (CQI) process. Such a system attempts to centralize the currently fragmented care delivery system, continually improve patient outcomes, and conserve scarce economic resources. Early data suggest a disease management approach may improve both the morbidity and mortality of CKD patients.

End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Initiative

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Initiative promotes ongoing CMS strategies to improve the quality of care provided to ESRD patients. This initiative...

Improving Quality of Care in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Saberifiroozi, Mehdi

2017-10-01

Liver cirrhosis is a major chronic disease in the field of digestive diseases. It causes more than one million deaths per year. Despite established evidence based guidelines, the adherence to standard of care or quality indicators are variable. Complete adherence to the recommendations of guidelines is less than 50%. To improve the quality of care in patients with cirrhosis, we need a more holistic view. Because of high rate of death due to cardiovascular disease and neoplasms, the care of comorbid conditions and risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, high blood sugar or cholesterol, would be important in addition to the management of primary liver disease. Despite a holistic multidisciplinary approach for this goal, the management of such patients should be patient centered and individualized. The diagnosis of underlying etiology and its appropriate treatment is the most important step. Definition and customizing the quality indicators for quality measure in patients are needed. Because most suggested quality indicators are designed for measuring the quality of care in decompensated liver cirrhosis, we need special quality indicators for compensated and milder forms of chronic liver disease as well. Training the patients for participation in their own management, design of special clinics with dedicated health professionals in a form of chronic disease model, is suggested for improvement of quality of care in this group of patients. Special day care centers by a dedicated gastroenterologist and a trained nurse may be a practical model for better management of such patients.

42 CFR 494.110 - Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... facility must maintain and demonstrate evidence of its quality improvement and performance improvement... RENAL DISEASE FACILITIES Patient Care § 494.110 Condition: Quality assessment and performance improvement. The dialysis facility must develop, implement, maintain, and evaluate an effective, data-driven...

Defining datasets and creating data dictionaries for quality improvement and research in chronic disease using routinely collected data: an ontology-driven approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon de Lusignan

2011-06-01

Conclusion Adopting an ontology-driven approach to case finding could improve the quality of disease registers and of research based on routine data. It would offer considerable advantages over using limited datasets to define cases. This approach should be considered by those involved in research and quality improvement projects which utilise routine data.

Diagnosing and reporting of occupational diseases: a quality improvement study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spreeuwers, D.; de Boer, A. G. E. M.; Verbeek, J. H. A. M.; van Beurden, M. M.; van Dijk, F. J. H.

2008-01-01

AIM: To assess the need for quality improvement of diagnosing and reporting of noise-induced occupational hearing loss and occupational adjustment disorder. METHODS: Performance indicators and criteria for the quality of diagnosing and reporting were developed. Self-assessment questionnaires were

[A plan for the improvement in the quality of life of people suffering from chronic diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Portal, Stéphanie

2011-10-01

In 2007, the French Ministry of Health launched a plan devoted to the improvement of the quality of life of patients suffering from chronic diseases. Over the last four years this plan has resulted in a number of concrete actions: events and seminars have been organised, patients' education has obtained legislative recognition and several partnerships have been created. Time for a progress report.

Infrastructure for Large-Scale Quality-Improvement Projects: Early Lessons from North Carolina Improving Performance in Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, Warren P.; Lefebvre, Ann; Donahue, Katrina E.; Bacon, Thomas; Dobson, Allen

2010-01-01

Introduction: Little is known regarding how to accomplish large-scale health care improvement. Our goal is to improve the quality of chronic disease care in all primary care practices throughout North Carolina. Methods: Methods for improvement include (1) common quality measures and shared data system; (2) rapid cycle improvement principles; (3)…

Improving the image quality of contrast-enhanced MR angiography by automated image registration: A prospective study in peripheral arterial disease of the lower extremities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menke, Jan

2010-01-01

Objective: If a patient has moved during digital subtraction angiography (DSA), manual pixel shift can improve the image quality. This study investigated whether such image registration can also improve the quality of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in patients with peripheral arterial disease of the lower extremities. Materials and methods: 404 leg MRAs of patients likely to have peripheral artery disease were included in this prospective study. The standard non-registered MRAs were compared to automatically linear, affine and warp registered MRAs by four image quality parameters, including the vessel detection probability (VDP) in maximum intensity projection (MIP) images and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR). The different registration types were compared by analysis of variance. Results: All studied image quality parameters showed similar trends. Generally, registration improved the leg MRA quality significantly (P < 0.05). The 12% of lower legs with a body shift of 1 mm or more showed the highest gain in image quality when using linear registration instead of no registration, with an average VDP gain of 20-49%. Warp registration improved the image quality slightly further. Conclusion: Automated image registration can improve the MRA image quality especially in the lower legs, which is comparable to the effect of pixel shift in DSA.

Quantitative research versus quality assurance, quality improvement, total quality management, and continuous quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogelsang, J

1999-04-01

The purpose of this report is to provide a review of the scientific method used in the quantitative research studies for consumers, evaluators, and applied nurse researchers. The fundamental characteristics of the problem-solving/ performance-improvement processes of quality assurance, quality improvement, total quality management, and continuous quality improvement are described. Research is compared with these processes, and is followed by a discussion about the publication of quantitative research findings.

Quality Improvement of Liver Ultrasound Images Using Fuzzy Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayani, Azadeh; Langarizadeh, Mostafa; Radmard, Amir Reza; Nejad, Ahmadreza Farzaneh

2016-12-01

Liver ultrasound images are so common and are applied so often to diagnose diffuse liver diseases like fatty liver. However, the low quality of such images makes it difficult to analyze them and diagnose diseases. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to improve the contrast and quality of liver ultrasound images. In this study, a number of image contrast enhancement algorithms which are based on fuzzy logic were applied to liver ultrasound images - in which the view of kidney is observable - using Matlab2013b to improve the image contrast and quality which has a fuzzy definition; just like image contrast improvement algorithms using a fuzzy intensification operator, contrast improvement algorithms applying fuzzy image histogram hyperbolization, and contrast improvement algorithms by fuzzy IF-THEN rules. With the measurement of Mean Squared Error and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio obtained from different images, fuzzy methods provided better results, and their implementation - compared with histogram equalization method - led both to the improvement of contrast and visual quality of images and to the improvement of liver segmentation algorithms results in images. Comparison of the four algorithms revealed the power of fuzzy logic in improving image contrast compared with traditional image processing algorithms. Moreover, contrast improvement algorithm based on a fuzzy intensification operator was selected as the strongest algorithm considering the measured indicators. This method can also be used in future studies on other ultrasound images for quality improvement and other image processing and analysis applications.

Developing a Continuous Quality Improvement Assessment Using a Patient-Centered Approach in Optimizing Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Updyke, Katelyn Mariko; Urso, Brittany; Beg, Shazia; Solomon, James

2017-10-09

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-organ, autoimmune disease in which patients lose self-tolerance and develop immune complexes which deposit systemically causing multi-organ damage and inflammation. Patients often experience unpredictable flares of symptoms with poorly identified triggers. Literature suggests exogenous exposures may contribute to flares in symptoms. An online pilot survey was marketed globally through social media to self-reported SLE patients with the goal to identify specific subpopulations who are susceptible to disease state changes based on analyzed exogenous factors. The pilot survey was promoted for two weeks, 80 respondents fully completed the survey and were included in statistical analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed on de-identified patient surveys and compared to previous literature studies reporting known or theorized triggers in the SLE disease state. The pilot survey identified similar exogenous triggers compared to previous literature, including antibiotics, increasing beef intake, and metal implants. The goal of the pilot survey is to utilize similar questions to develop a detailed internet-based patient interactive form that can be edited and time stamped as a method to promote continuous quality improvement assessments. The ultimate objective of the platform is to interact with SLE patients from across the globe longitudinally to optimize disease control and improve quality of care by allowing them to avoid harmful triggers.

Clinical Outcomes in Interstitial Lung Diseases : Measuring and improving quality of life

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.J.G. Van Manen (Mirjam)

2017-01-01

markdownabstractInterstitial lung diseases (ILDs) contain a wide variety of disorders, usually affecting both lungs diffusely. The most common ILDs are idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis. ILDs have a major impact on quality of life. Although it is well-known that quality of life is

Collaborative quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Luckenbaugh, Amy N; Miller, David C; Ghani, Khurshid R

2017-07-01

Quality improvement collaboratives were developed in many medical and surgical disciplines with the goal of measuring and improving the quality of care provided to patients. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of surgical quality improvement collaboratives, and in particular those aimed at improving urological care. Quality improvement collaboratives collect high-quality data using standardized methodologies, and use the data to provide feedback to physicians and practices, and then implement processes to improve patient outcomes. The largest regional collaborative in urology is the Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC). Recent efforts by this group have been focused at understanding variation in care, improving patient selection for treatment, reducing treatment morbidity and measuring and optimizing technical skill. The American Urological Association has also recently launched a national quality registry (AQUA), with an initial focus on prostate cancer care. By understanding factors that result in exemplary performance, quality improvement collaboratives are able to develop best practices around areas of care with high variation that have the potential to improve outcomes and reduce costs. These developments have been made possible by the unique model offered by the collaborative structure with the goal of improving patient care at a population level.

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy Reduces Stress and Improves the Quality of Life in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadinia, Anousha; Meyer, Antonia; Bruegger, Viviane; Hatz, Florian; Nowak, Karolina; Taub, Ethan; Nyberg, Elisabeth; Stieglitz, Rolf-Dieter; Fuhr, Peter; Gschwandtner, Ute

2016-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare a cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBT) with a health enhancement program (HEP) for stress reduction and the impact on quality of life (QoL) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Method : Thirty patients with PD participated in the study: 16 received CBT including stress-reducing elements and 14 took part in a HEP. The two groups did not differ significantly in their baseline demographic characteristics. The patients in both groups underwent weekly sessions of 2 h duration for 9 weeks. The Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire with 39 items (PDQ-39), the Burden Questionnaire for Parkinson's Disease (translated from the original German: Belastungsfragebogen für Parkinsonpatienten (BELA) and the Disease-Related Questionnaire [ Fragebogen zur krankheitsbezogenen Kommunikation (FKK)] were used for assessment. Ratings were completed at baseline and after 9 weeks (immediately after the last treatment session). Results : The patients in the CBT group achieved significantly better BELA, FKK and PDQ-39 scores ( p Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy appears to be an effective way for patients with PD to lessen stress and improve their quality of life.

Modalities of hemodialysis: Quality improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayman Karkar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Hemodialysis (HD treatment had, over many years, improved the survival rate of patients with end-stage renal disease. However, standard or conventional HD prescription is far from being optimal in replacing the function of normal kidneys. Its unphysiologic clearance pattern and inability to remove all types and sizes of uremic toxins results in inter- and intra-dialysis complications and an unacceptably high rate of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Efficiency of HD can be improved by increasing blood and dialysate flow rates, dialyzer size and surface area and duration and frequency of dialysis sessions. Home HD, where short daily or long slow nocturnal HD sessions can conveniently be performed, provides an excellent option for quality of life improvement and reduction in morbidity and mortality. Recent innovations in the specifications of HD machines and improvement in dialysis membranes characteristics and water treatment technology paved the way for achieving quality HD. These advancements have resulted in efficient implementation of adsorption, diffusion and/or convection principles using adsorption HD, hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration (HDF and online HDF modalities in order to achieve optimum HD. Implementation of these innovations resulted in better quality care achievements in clinical practice and reduction in morbidity and mortality rates among HD patients.

Developing a Deep Brain Stimulation Neuromodulation Network for Parkinson Disease, Essential Tremor, and Dystonia: Report of a Quality Improvement Project.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard B Dewey

Full Text Available To develop a process to improve patient outcomes from deep brain stimulation (DBS surgery for Parkinson disease (PD, essential tremor (ET, and dystonia.We employed standard quality improvement methodology using the Plan-Do-Study-Act process to improve patient selection, surgical DBS lead implantation, postoperative programming, and ongoing assessment of patient outcomes.The result of this quality improvement process was the development of a neuromodulation network. The key aspect of this program is rigorous patient assessment of both motor and non-motor outcomes tracked longitudinally using a REDCap database. We describe how this information is used to identify problems and to initiate Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to address them. Preliminary outcomes data is presented for the cohort of PD and ET patients who have received surgery since the creation of the neuromodulation network.Careful outcomes tracking is essential to ensure quality in a complex therapeutic endeavor like DBS surgery for movement disorders. The REDCap database system is well suited to store outcomes data for the purpose of ongoing quality assurance monitoring.

Improving quality of life in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dufour, D.N.; Esmann, S.; Jemec, G.B.

2012-01-01

Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic recurrent inflammatory skin disease with abscess formation and scarring predominantly in the inverse areas. The disease is often difficult to treat and patients experience a decreased quality of life (QoL) and related psychosocial morbidity. Current knowledge...... on improving QoL in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa is therefore reviewed. The literature is limited but indicates that there are two ways of improving patients' QoL: therapy of the somatic disease or psychosocial interventions....

Disease management of early childhood caries: results of a pilot quality improvement project.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Man Wai; Torresyap, Gay; White, Alex; Melvin, Patrice; Graham, Dionne; Kane, Daniel; Scoville, Richard; Ohiomoba, Henry

2012-08-01

The purpose is to report findings of a quality improvement (QI) project implemented at two hospital-based dental clinics that care for children with early childhood caries (ECC). We tested a disease management (DM) approach in children younger than age 60 months with ECC. After 30 months, for the 403 and 234 DM patients at Children's Hospital Boston (CHB) and Saint Joseph Hospital (SJH) who returned for at least two visits, rates of new cavitation, pain, and referrals to the OR were 26.1, 13.4 and 10.9% for CHB and 41.0, 7.3 and 14.9% for SJH. Rates of new cavitation, pain, and referrals to the OR for historical controls were 75.2, 21.7, and 20.9% for CHB and 71.3, 31.3, and 25.0% for SJH. A risk-based DM approach utilizing QI strategies to address ECC can be implemented into practice and has the potential to improve care and health outcomes.

Teaching quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Marry Ellen; Douglas, Stephen; Girdley, Diana; Jarzemsky, Paula

2010-08-01

Practicing nurses are required to engage in quality improvement work as a part of their clinical practice, but few undergraduate nursing education programs offer course work and applied experience in this area. This article presents a description of class content and teaching strategies, assignments, and evaluation strategies designed to achieve the Quality and Safety Education in Nursing competencies related to quality improvement and interdisciplinary teams. Students demonstrate their application of the quality improvement process by designing and implementing a small-scale quality improvement project that they report in storyboard format on a virtual conference Web site.

Methodology of quality improvement projects for the Texas Medicare population.

Science.gov (United States)

Pendergrass, P W; Abel, R L; Bing, M; Vaughn, R; McCauley, C

1998-07-01

The Texas Medical Foundation, the quality improvement organization for the state of Texas, develops local quality improvement projects for the Medicare population. These projects are developed as part of the Health Care Quality Improvement Program undertaken by the Health Care Financing Administration. The goal of a local quality improvement project is to collaborate with providers to identify and reduce the incidence of unintentional variations in the delivery of care that negatively impact outcomes. Two factors are critical to the success of a quality improvement project. First, as opposed to peer review that is based on implicit criteria, quality improvement must be based on explicit criteria. These criteria represent key steps in the delivery of care that have been shown to improve outcomes for a specific disease. Second, quality improvement must be performed in partnership with the health care community. As such, the health care community must play an integral role in the design and evaluation of a quality improvement project and in the design and implementation of the resulting quality improvement plan. Specifically, this article provides a historical perspective for the transition from peer review to quality improvement. It discusses key steps used in developing and implementing local quality improvement projects including topic selection, quality indicator development, collaborator recruitment, and measurement of performance/improvement. Two Texas Medical Foundation projects are described to highlight the current methodology and to illustrate the impact of quality improvement projects.

Health coaching to improve self-management and quality of life for low income patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Beatrice; Willard-Grace, Rachel; De Vore, Denise; Wolf, Jessica; Chirinos, Chris; Tsao, Stephanie; Hessler, Danielle; Su, George; Thom, David H

2017-06-09

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severely hinders quality of life for those affected and is costly to the health care system. Care gaps in areas such as pharmacotherapy, inhaler technique, and knowledge of disease are prevalent, particularly for vulnerable populations served by community clinics. Non-professionally licensed health coaches have been shown to be an effective and cost-efficient solution in bridging care gaps and facilitating self-management for patients with other chronic diseases, but no research to date has explored their efficacy in improving care for people living with COPD. This is multi-site, single blinded, randomized controlled trial evaluates the efficacy of health coaches to facilitate patient self-management of disease and improve quality of life for patients with moderate to severe COPD. Spirometry, survey, and an exercise capacity test are conducted at baseline and at 9 months. A short survey is administered by phone at 3 and 6 months post-enrollment. The nine month health coaching intervention focuses on enhancing disease understanding and symptom awareness, improving use of inhalers; making personalized plans to increase physical activity, smoking cessation, or otherwise improve disease management; and facilitating care coordination. The results of this study will provide evidence regarding the efficacy and feasibility of health coaching to improve self-management and quality of life for urban underserved patients with moderate to severe COPD. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02234284 . Registered 12 August 2014.

Improvement in rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease management and prevention using a health centre-based continuous quality improvement approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph, Anna P; Fittock, Marea; Schultz, Rosalie; Thompson, Dale; Dowden, Michelle; Clemens, Tom; Parnaby, Matthew G; Clark, Michele; McDonald, Malcolm I; Edwards, Keith N; Carapetis, Jonathan R; Bailie, Ross S

2013-12-18

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major health concern for Aboriginal Australians. A key component of RHD control is prevention of recurrent acute rheumatic fever (ARF) using long-term secondary prophylaxis with intramuscular benzathine penicillin (BPG). This is the most important and cost-effective step in RHD control. However, there are significant challenges to effective implementation of secondary prophylaxis programs. This project aimed to increase understanding and improve quality of RHD care through development and implementation of a continuous quality improvement (CQI) strategy. We used a CQI strategy to promote implementation of national best-practice ARF/RHD management guidelines at primary health care level in Indigenous communities of the Northern Territory (NT), Australia, 2008-2010. Participatory action research methods were employed to identify system barriers to delivery of high quality care. This entailed facilitated discussion with primary care staff aided by a system assessment tool (SAT). Participants were encouraged to develop and implement strategies to overcome identified barriers, including better record-keeping, triage systems and strategies for patient follow-up. To assess performance, clinical records were audited at baseline, then annually for two years. Key performance indicators included proportion of people receiving adequate secondary prophylaxis (≥80% of scheduled 4-weekly penicillin injections) and quality of documentation. Six health centres participated, servicing approximately 154 people with ARF/RHD. Improvements occurred in indicators of service delivery including proportion of people receiving ≥40% of their scheduled BPG (increasing from 81/116 [70%] at baseline to 84/103 [82%] in year three, p = 0.04), proportion of people reviewed by a doctor within the past two years (112/154 [73%] and 134/156 [86%], p = 0.003), and proportion of people who received influenza vaccination (57/154 [37%] to 86/156 [55%], p�

The World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery: The Dawn of a New Era of Global Communication and Quality Improvement in Congenital Heart Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

St Louis, James D; Kurosawa, Hiromi; Jonas, Richard A; Sandoval, Nestor; Cervantes, Jorge; Tchervenkov, Christo I; Jacobs, Jeffery P; Sakamoto, Kisaburo; Stellin, Giovanni; Kirklin, James K

2017-09-01

The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery was founded with the mission to "promote the highest quality comprehensive cardiac care to all patients with congenital heart disease, from the fetus to the adult, regardless of the patient's economic means, with an emphasis on excellence in teaching, research, and community service." Early on, the Society's members realized that a crucial step in meeting this goal was to establish a global database that would collect vital information, allowing cardiac surgical centers worldwide to benchmark their outcomes and improve the quality of congenital heart disease care. With tireless efforts from all corners of the globe and utilizing the vast experience and invaluable input of multiple international experts, such a platform of global information exchange was created: The World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease went live on January 1, 2017. This database has been thoughtfully designed to produce meaningful performance and quality analyses of surgical outcomes extending beyond immediate hospital survival, allowing capture of important morbidities and mortalities for up to 1 year postoperatively. In order to advance the societal mission, this quality improvement program is available free of charge to WSPCHS members. In establishing the World Database, the Society has taken an essential step to further the process of global improvement in care for children with congenital heart disease.

Association Between Echocardiography Laboratory Accreditation and the Quality of Imaging and Reporting for Valvular Heart Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Thaden, Jeremy J; Tsang, Michael Y; Ayoub, Chadi; Padang, Ratnasari; Nkomo, Vuyisile T; Tucker, Stephen F; Cassidy, Cynthia S; Bremer, Merri; Kane, Garvan C; Pellikka, Patricia A

2017-08-01

It is presumed that echocardiographic laboratory accreditation leads to improved quality, but there are few data. We sought to compare the quality of echocardiographic examinations performed at accredited versus nonaccredited laboratories for the evaluation of valvular heart disease. We enrolled 335 consecutive valvular heart disease subjects who underwent echocardiography at our institution and an external accredited or nonaccredited institution within 6 months. Completeness and quality of echocardiographic reports and images were assessed by investigators blinded to the external laboratory accreditation status and echocardiographic results. Compared with nonaccredited laboratories, accredited sites more frequently reported patient sex (94% versus 78%; P heart disease. Future quality improvement initiatives should highlight the importance of high-quality color Doppler imaging and echocardiographic quantification to improve the accuracy, reproducibility, and quality of echocardiographic studies for valvular heart disease. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Continuous quality improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourne, P.B.

1985-01-01

This paper describes the various statistical tools used at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory to achieve continuous quality improvement in the development of Breeder Reactor Technology and in reactor operations. The role of the quality assurance professionals in this process, including quantifiable measurements using actual examples, is provided. The commitment to quality improvement through top management involvement is dramatically illustrated

Improving quality of care among COPD outpatients in Denmark 2008-2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tøttenborg, Sandra Søgaard; Lange, P.; Thomsen, R.W.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the quality of care among Danish patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has improved since the initiation of a national multidisciplinary quality improvement program. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide, population-based prospective cohort study...... a substantial improvement in the quality of care of COPD in Danish hospitals following the initiation of a national multidisciplinary quality improvement program in 2008. In the forthcoming years, it will be interesting to observe if this will translate into a better prognosis of Danish patients with COPD....... using data from the Danish Clinical Register of COPD (DrCOPD). Since 2008 the register has systematically monitored and audited the use of recommended processes of COPD care. RESULTS: Substantial improvements were observed for all processes of care and registration fulfillment increased to well above 85...

Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea

OpenAIRE

Clasen, Thomas F; Alexander, Kelly T; Sinclair, David; Boisson, Sophie; Peletz, Rachel; Chang, Howard H; Majorin, Fiona; Cairncross, Sandy

2015-01-01

Background Diarrhoea is a major cause of death and disease, especially among young children in low-income countries. In these settings, many infectious agents associated with diarrhoea are spread through water contaminated with faeces. In remote and low-income settings, source-based water quality improvement includes providing protected groundwater (springs, wells, and bore holes), or harvested rainwater as an alternative to surface sources (rivers and lakes). Point-of-use water quality impro...

Assessment of the quality of life of patients with peripheral vascular diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wohlgemuth, W.A.; Bayreuth Univ.; Niechzial, M.; Nagel, E.; Bohndorf, K.

2003-01-01

The Medical Outcome Short Form 36 is commonly used as a generic quality of life measure in the assessment of vascular disease. The Claudication Scale CLAU-S, the PAVK-86 Fragebogen, and the Walking Impairment Questionnaire WIQ are validated disease-specific questionnaires for intermittent claudication. A disease specific tool for critical ischaemia is lacking. Quality of life of patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease is not only impaired in the physical functioning domains (mobility, self care, activities of daily living), but moreover in their social and emotional wellbeing. This situation worsens under conservative treatment. Angioplasty and operation procedure similar improvements in all dimensions of hrQOL. As radiological interventional procedures just aim to improve hrQOL and do not bring a definite cure for the underlying disease, patients perception of their quality of life should be taken into account both in the indication for angioplasty and for the scientific evaluation of new treatment modalities. (orig.) [de

Cardiovascular Disease Performance Measures in the Outpatient Setting in India: Insights From the American College of Cardiology’s PINNACLE India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP)

Science.gov (United States)

Kalra, Ankur; Pokharel, Yashashwi; Hira, Ravi S; Risch, Samantha; Vicera, Veronique; Li, Qiong; Kalra, Ram N; Kerkar, Prafulla G; Kumar, Ganesh; Maddox, Thomas M; Oetgen, William J; Glusenkamp, Nathan; Turakhia, Mintu P; Virani, Salim S

2015-01-01

Background India has a growing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet data on the quality of outpatient care for patients with coronary artery disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation in India are very limited. We collected data on performance measures for 68 196 unique patients from 10 Indian cardiology outpatient departments from January 1, 2011, to February 5, 2014, in the American College of Cardiology’s PINNACLE (Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence) India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP). PIQIP is India’s first national outpatient CVD quality-improvement program. Methods and Results In the PIQIP registry, we estimated the prevalence of CVD risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and current tobacco use) and CVD among outpatients. We examined adherence with performance measures established by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the American Medical Association Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement for coronary artery disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. There were a total of 68 196 patients (155 953 patient encounters), with a mean age of 50.6 years (SD 18.2 years). Hypertension was present in 29.7% of patients, followed by diabetes (14.9%), current tobacco use (7.6%), and dyslipidemia (6.5%). Coronary artery disease was present in 14.8%, heart failure was noted in 4.0%, and atrial fibrillation was present in 0.5% of patients. Among eligible patients, the reported use of medications was as follows: aspirin in 48.6%, clopidogrel in 37.1%, and statin-based lipid-lowering therapy in 50.6% of patients with coronary artery disease; RAAS (renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system) antagonist in 61.9% and beta-blockers in 58.1% of patients with heart failure; and oral anticoagulants in 37.0% of patients with atrial fibrillation. Conclusions This pilot study, initiated to improve outpatient CVD care in India, presents our preliminary results and barriers to data

Quality improvement - the future begins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boissy, G.J.

1987-01-01

The comprehensive quality improvement program of the Florida Power and Light Co. is described: management commitment, quality improvement process, quality improvement teams, policy development, and quality in daily work are discussed

Nurse managers' experiences in continuous quality improvement in resource-poor healthcare settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Kakyo, Tracy Alexis; Xiao, Lily Dongxia

2017-06-01

Ensuring safe and quality care for patients in hospitals is an important part of a nurse manager's role. Continuous quality improvement has been identified as one approach that leads to the delivery of quality care services to patients and is widely used by nurse managers to improve patient care. Nurse managers' experiences in initiating continuous quality improvement activities in resource-poor healthcare settings remain largely unknown. Research evidence is highly demanded in these settings to address disease burden and evidence-based practice. This interpretive qualitative study was conducted to gain an understanding of nurse managers' Continuous Quality Improvement experiences in rural hospitals in Uganda. Nurse managers in rural healthcare settings used their role to prioritize quality improvement activities, monitor the Continuous Quality Improvement process, and utilize in-service education to support continuous quality improvement. The nurse managers in our sample encountered a number of barriers during the implementation of Continuous Quality Improvement, including: limited patient participation, lack of materials, and limited human resources. Efforts to address the challenges faced through good governance and leadership development require more attention. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Cardiovascular Disease Performance Measures in the Outpatient Setting in India: Insights From the American College of Cardiology's PINNACLE India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP).

Science.gov (United States)

Kalra, Ankur; Pokharel, Yashashwi; Hira, Ravi S; Risch, Samantha; Vicera, Veronique; Li, Qiong; Kalra, Ram N; Kerkar, Prafulla G; Kumar, Ganesh; Maddox, Thomas M; Oetgen, William J; Glusenkamp, Nathan; Turakhia, Mintu P; Virani, Salim S

2015-05-20

India has a growing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet data on the quality of outpatient care for patients with coronary artery disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation in India are very limited. We collected data on performance measures for 68 196 unique patients from 10 Indian cardiology outpatient departments from January 1, 2011, to February 5, 2014, in the American College of Cardiology's PINNACLE (Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence) India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP). PIQIP is India's first national outpatient CVD quality-improvement program. In the PIQIP registry, we estimated the prevalence of CVD risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and current tobacco use) and CVD among outpatients. We examined adherence with performance measures established by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the American Medical Association Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement for coronary artery disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. There were a total of 68 196 patients (155 953 patient encounters), with a mean age of 50.6 years (SD 18.2 years). Hypertension was present in 29.7% of patients, followed by diabetes (14.9%), current tobacco use (7.6%), and dyslipidemia (6.5%). Coronary artery disease was present in 14.8%, heart failure was noted in 4.0%, and atrial fibrillation was present in 0.5% of patients. Among eligible patients, the reported use of medications was as follows: aspirin in 48.6%, clopidogrel in 37.1%, and statin-based lipid-lowering therapy in 50.6% of patients with coronary artery disease; RAAS (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) antagonist in 61.9% and beta-blockers in 58.1% of patients with heart failure; and oral anticoagulants in 37.0% of patients with atrial fibrillation. This pilot study, initiated to improve outpatient CVD care in India, presents our preliminary results and barriers to data collection and demonstrates that such an initiative is

A cluster-randomised quality improvement study to improve two inpatient stroke quality indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Linda; Daggett, Virginia; Slaven, James E; Yu, Zhangsheng; Sager, Danielle; Myers, Jennifer; Plue, Laurie; Woodward-Hagg, Heather; Damush, Teresa M

2016-04-01

Quality indicator collection and feedback improves stroke care. We sought to determine whether quality improvement training plus indicator feedback was more effective than indicator feedback alone in improving inpatient stroke indicators. We conducted a cluster-randomised quality improvement trial, randomising hospitals to quality improvement training plus indicator feedback versus indicator feedback alone to improve deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis and dysphagia screening. Intervention sites received collaborative-based quality improvement training, external facilitation and indicator feedback. Control sites received only indicator feedback. We compared indicators pre-implementation (pre-I) to active implementation (active-I) and post-implementation (post-I) periods. We constructed mixed-effect logistic models of the two indicators with a random intercept for hospital effect, adjusting for patient, time, intervention and hospital variables. Patients at intervention sites (1147 admissions), had similar race, gender and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores to control sites (1017 admissions). DVT prophylaxis improved more in intervention sites during active-I period (ratio of ORs 4.90, pimproved similarly in both groups during active-I, but control sites improved more in post-I period (ratio of ORs 0.67, p=0.04). In logistic models, the intervention was independently positively associated with DVT performance during active-I period, and negatively associated with dysphagia performance post-I period. Quality improvement training was associated with early DVT improvement, but the effect was not sustained over time and was not seen with dysphagia screening. External quality improvement programmes may quickly boost performance but their effect may vary by indicator and may not sustain over time. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Infrastructure for large-scale quality-improvement projects: early lessons from North Carolina Improving Performance in Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, Warren P; Lefebvre, Ann; Donahue, Katrina E; Bacon, Thomas; Dobson, Allen

2010-01-01

Little is known regarding how to accomplish large-scale health care improvement. Our goal is to improve the quality of chronic disease care in all primary care practices throughout North Carolina. Methods for improvement include (1) common quality measures and shared data system; (2) rapid cycle improvement principles; (3) quality-improvement consultants (QICs), or practice facilitators; (4) learning networks; and (5) alignment of incentives. We emphasized a community-based strategy and developing a statewide infrastructure. Results are reported from the first 2 years of the North Carolina Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) project. A coalition was formed to include professional societies, North Carolina AHEC, Community Care of North Carolina, insurers, and other organizations. Wave One started with 18 practices in 2 of 9 regions of the state. Quality-improvement consultants recruited practices. Over 80 percent of practices attended all quarterly regional meetings. In 9 months, almost all diabetes measures improved, and a bundled asthma measure improved from 33 to 58 percent. Overall, the magnitude of improvement was clinically and statistically significant (P = .001). Quality improvements were maintained on review 1 year later. Wave Two has spread to 103 practices in all 9 regions of the state, with 42 additional practices beginning the enrollment process. Large-scale health care quality improvement is feasible, when broadly supported by statewide leadership and community infrastructure. Practice-collected data and lack of a control group are limitations of the study design. Future priorities include maintaining improved sustainability for practices and communities. Our long-term goal is to transform all 2000 primary-care practices in our state.

Quality of provided care in vascular surgery : outcome assessment & improvement strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Flu, Hans Christiaan

2010-01-01

The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the quality of care in vascular surgery in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD): intermittent claudication (IC) and critical lower limb ischaemia (CLI) patients. Therefore firstly it focused on the improvement of the

Health Technologies for the Improvement of Chronic Disease Management

Science.gov (United States)

Nikitovic, M; Brener, S

2013-01-01

Background As part of ongoing efforts to improve the Ontario health care system, a mega-analysis examining the optimization of chronic disease management in the community was conducted by Evidence Development and Standards, Health Quality Ontario (previously known as the Medical Advisory Secretariat [MAS]). Objective The purpose of this report was to identify health technologies previously evaluated by MAS that may be leveraged in efforts to optimize chronic disease management in the community. Data Sources The Ontario Health Technology Assessment Series and field evaluations conducted by MAS and its partners between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2011. Review Methods Technologies related to at least 1 of 7 disease areas of interest (type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and chronic wounds) or that may greatly impact health services utilization were reviewed. Only technologies with a moderate to high quality of evidence and associated with a clinically or statistically significant improvement in disease management were included. Technologies related to other topics in the mega-analysis on chronic disease management were excluded. Evidence-based analyses were reviewed, and outcomes of interest were extracted. Outcomes of interest included hospital utilization, mortality, health-related quality of life, disease-specific measures, and economic analysis measures. Results Eleven analyses were included and summarized. Technologies fell into 3 categories: those with evidence for the cure of chronic disease, those with evidence for the prevention of chronic disease, and those with evidence for the management of chronic disease. Conclusions The impact on patient outcomes and hospitalization rates of new health technologies in chronic disease management is often overlooked. This analysis demonstrates that health technologies can reduce the burden of illness; improve patient

Quality control of 131I treatment of graves' disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zeng; Liu Guoqiang

2009-01-01

To make a preliminary quality control (QC) criteria and apply on the various stages of clinic 131 I treatment of Graves' disease in order to decrease the early happening of hypothyroidism and enhance the onetime 131 I cure rate of Graves' disease, the quality control criteria in the stochastic outpatient with 131 I treatment, such as plan of the indication, contraindication, method of treatment, matters needing attention, follow-up observation and curative effect appraisal, patient selection, RAIU, thyroid gland weight measurement and 131 I dose criteria for the various steps of 131 I medication were determined. The 131 I treatment effects of Graves' disease including the once-cure rate, the improving rate, duplicate cure rate and the early happening rate of hypothyroidism were analyzed in patients with applying QC and without QC ccriteria. The results showed that the oncecure rate in patients with applying QC criteria was increased from 76.6% to 90.9% (P≤0.01); the improving rate was decreased from 12.2% to 7.0% (P≤0.01); the duplicate cure rate was increased from 90.1% to 93.0% (P>0.05); the early happening rate of hypothyroidism was decreased from 11.0% to 2.1% (P≤0.01). The 131 I treatment of Graves' disease applying with QC criteria had tremendously improved the oncecure rate and decreased the early happening of hypothyroidism rate. (authors)

Does quality improvement work in neonatology improve clinical outcomes?

Science.gov (United States)

Ellsbury, Dan L; Clark, Reese H

2017-04-01

Quality improvement initiatives in neonatology have been promoted as an important way of improving outcomes of newborns. The purpose of this review is to examine the effectiveness of recent quality improvement work in improving the outcomes of infants requiring neonatal intensive care. Quality improvement collaboratives and single-center projects demonstrate improvement of clinical processes and outcomes in neonatology that impact both preterm and term infants. Declines in morbidities, resource use, and length of stay have been associated with reductions in healthcare costs. Recent quality improvement work has shown evidence of improvement in clinical outcomes in neonatal intensive care patients. These improvements have important implications for the reduction of healthcare costs in this population.

Quality improvement: the nurse's role.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, M J; Johnson, J E

1992-06-01

Continuous quality improvement is a concept which includes: Quality assurance--the provision of services that meet an appropriate standard. Problem resolution--including all departments involved in the issue at hand. Quality improvement--a continuous process involving all levels of the organization working together across departmental lines to produce better services for health care clients. Deming (1982b) and others have espoused total system reform to achieve quality improvement--not merely altering the current system, but radically changing it. It must be assumed that those who provide services at the staff level are acting in good faith and are not willfully failing to do what is correct (Berwick, 1991). Those who perform direct services are in an excellent position to identify the need for change in service delivery processes. Based on this premise, the staff nurse--who is at the heart of the system--is the best person to assess the status of health care services and to work toward improving the processes by which these services are provided to clients in the health care setting. The nurse manager must structure the work setting to facilitate the staff nurse's ability to undertake constructive action for improving care. The use of quality circles, quality councils, or quality improvement forums to facilitate the coordination of quality improvement efforts is an effective way to achieve success. The QA coordinator assists departments in documenting that the quality improvement efforts are effective across all departments of the organization, and aggregates data to demonstrate that they meet the requirements of external regulatory agencies, insurers, and professional standards. The nurse executive provides the vision and secures the necessary resources to ensure that the organization's quality improvement efforts are successful. By inspiring and empowering the staff in their efforts to improve the process by which health care is provided, nurse managers

Using Lean to Advance Quality Improvement Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackmore, Christopher Craig; Williams, Barbara L; Ching, Joan M; Chafetz, Lynne A; Kaplan, Gary S

2016-01-01

Quality improvement research skills are not commonplace among quality improvement practitioners, and research on the effectiveness of quality improvement has not always kept pace with improvement innovation. However, the Lean tools applied to quality improvement should be equally relevant to the advancement of quality improvement research. We applied the Lean methods to develop a simplified quality improvement publication pathway enabling a small research methodology group to increase quality improvement research throughout the institution. The key innovations of the pathway are horizontal integration of the quality improvement research methods group across the institution, implementation of a Lean quality improvement research pathway, and application of a just-in-time quality improvement research toolkit. This work provides a road map and tools for the acceleration of quality improvement research. At our institution, the Lean quality improvement research approach was associated with statistically significant increases in the number (annual mean increase from 3.0 to 8.5, p = .03) and breadth of published quality improvement research articles, and in the number of quality improvement research projects currently in process. Application of Lean methods to the quality improvement research process can aid in increasing publication of quality improvement articles from across the institution.

Accelerate Water Quality Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

EPA is committed to accelerating water quality improvement and minimizing negative impacts to aquatic life from contaminants and other stressors in the Bay Delta Estuary by working with California Water Boards to strengthen water quality improvement plans.

"Rheum to Improve": Quality Improvement in Outpatient Rheumatology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Shirley L; Shojania, Kaveh G

2017-09-01

The commitment to improve care processes and patient outcomes is a professional mandate for clinicians and is also seen as an operational priority for institutions. Quality improvement now figures in the accreditation of training programs, specialty examinations, and hospital scorecards. Rheumatologists have traditionally focused primarily on quality problems such as guideline adherence; however, improvement goals should also include other aspects of care that are helpful to patients and are professionally rewarding for practitioners. This review makes use of improvement projects in outlining tangible tools rheumatologists can use to resolve quality concerns in their practices.

Burden of Disease: The Psychosocial Impact of Rosacea on a Patient's Quality of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Huynh, Tu T

2013-07-01

Rosacea is a chronic skin disorder that adversely affects patients' quality of life. Current studies focus on the therapies that treat the clinical signs and symptoms of rosacea, but the impact of this disease on patients' emotional health and quality of life is often overlooked. To describe the disease burden of rosacea and the psychosocial implications on patients' quality of life and to review the current understanding of the disease and the available therapies. The facial skin manifestations of rosacea have significant implications on patients' well-being and social and emotional health. The 4 clinical subtypes of this disease include erythematotelangiectatic, papulopustular, phymatous, and ocular, and patients may present with more than 1 subtype. Patients with rosacea have reported a negative burden of their disease, such as low self-esteem, low self-confidence, and decreased social interactions. Improvement of the clinical symptoms of rosacea improves the patient's emotional well-being and quality of life. Several topical medications and 1 oral medication have been approved for the treatment of rosacea. Although current therapies do not cure the disease and do not treat the facial erythema associated with it, they do treat the papules and pustules associated with this condition. Proper management of the signs and symptoms of rosacea has been shown to improve patients' quality of life. The self-perception of disease severity varies among patients with rosacea, so physicians should carefully consider each patient's concerns when prescribing a treatment regimen. Although no cure exists, effective treatment options aid in the management of signs and symptoms of rosacea. New therapies that treat the broad range of rosacea symptoms are needed.

Clinical performance improvement series. Classic CQI integrated with comprehensive disease management as a model for performance improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, M S; Bernard, D B

1999-08-01

In recent years, health and disease management has emerged as an effective means of delivering, integrating, and improving care through a population-based approach. Since 1997 the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) has utilized the key principles and components of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and disease management to form a model for health care improvement that focuses on designing best practices, using best practices to influence clinical decision making, changing processes and systems to deploy and deliver best practices, and measuring outcomes to improve the process. Experience with 28 programs and more than 14,000 patients indicates significant improvement in outcomes, including high physician satisfaction, increased patient satisfaction, reduced costs, and improved clinical process and outcome measures across multiple diseases. DIABETES DISEASE MANAGEMENT: In three months a UPHS multidisciplinary diabetes disease management team developed a best practice approach for the treatment of all patients with diabetes in the UPHS. After the program was pilot tested in three primary care physician sites, it was then introduced progressively to additional practice sites throughout the health system. The establishment of the role of the diabetes nurse care managers (certified diabetes educators) was central to successful program deployment. Office-based coordinators ensure incorporation of the best practice protocols into routine flow processes. A disease management intranet disseminates programs electronically. Outcomes of the UPHS health and disease management programs so far demonstrate success across multiple dimensions of performance-service, clinical quality, access, and value. The task of health care leadership today is to remove barriers and enable effective implementation of key strategies, such as health and disease management. Substantial effort and resources must be dedicated to gain physician buy-in and achieve compliance. The

Air quality and disease

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Climate change is an important determinant of air quality. Climate change is an important determinant of air quality. Poor air quality associated with higher levels of respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Exposure to high levels of ground-level ozone associated with ...

Do telemedical interventions improve quality of life in patients with COPD?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregersen, Thorbjorn L.; Green, Allan; Frausing, Ejvind

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Telehealth is an approach to disease management, which may hold the potential of improving some of the features associated with COPD, including positive impact on disease progression, and thus possibly limiting further reduction in quality of life (QoL). Our objective was, therefore......, three studies found statistically significant improvements in QoL for patients allocated to telemedical interventions. However, all of the other included studies found no statistically significant differences between control and telemedical intervention groups in terms of QoL. CONCLUSION: Telehealth...

Development and initial validation of prescribing quality indicators for patients with chronic kidney disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smits, Kirsten P J; Sidorenkov, Grigory; Bilo, Henk J G; Bouma, Margriet; van Ittersum, Frans J; Voorham, Jaco; Navis, Gerjan; Denig, Petra

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Quality assessment is a key element for improving the quality of care. Currently, a comprehensive indicator set for measuring the quality of medication treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is lacking. Our aim was to develop and validate a set of prescribing quality

Structured data quality reports to improve EHR data quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Taggart, Jane; Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Yu, Hairong

2015-12-01

To examine whether a structured data quality report (SDQR) and feedback sessions with practice principals and managers improve the quality of routinely collected data in EHRs. The intervention was conducted in four general practices participating in the Fairfield neighborhood electronic Practice Based Research Network (ePBRN). Data were extracted from their clinical information systems and summarised as a SDQR to guide feedback to practice principals and managers at 0, 4, 8 and 12 months. Data quality (DQ) metrics included completeness, correctness, consistency and duplication of patient records. Information on data recording practices, data quality improvement, and utility of SDQRs was collected at the feedback sessions at the practices. The main outcome measure was change in the recording of clinical information and level of meeting Royal Australian College of General Practice (RACGP) targets. Birth date was 100% and gender 99% complete at baseline and maintained. DQ of all variables measured improved significantly (pImprovement was greatest with allergies. There was no significant change in duplicate records. SDQRs and feedback sessions support general practitioners and practice managers to focus on improving the recording of patient information. However, improved practice DQ, was not sufficient to meet RACGP targets. Randomised controlled studies are required to evaluate strategies to improve data quality and any associated improved safety and quality of care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Quality assurance and quality improvement. Personal experiences and intentions].

Science.gov (United States)

Roche, B G; Sommer, C

1995-01-01

In may 1994 we were selected by the surgical Swiss association to make a study about quality in USA. During our travel we visited 3 types of institutions: Hospitals, National Institute of standard and Technology, Industry, Johnson & Johnson. We appreciate to compare 2 types of quality programs: Quality Assurance (QA) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). In traditional healthcare circles, QA is the process established to meet external regulatory requirements and to assure that patient care is consistent with established standards. In a modern quality terms, QA outside of healthcare means designing a product or service, as well as controlling its production, so well that quality is inevitable. The ideas of W. Edward Deming is that there is never improvement just by inspection. He developed a theory based on 14 principles. A productive work is accomplished through processes. Understanding the variability of processes is a key to improve quality. Quality management sees each person in an organisation as part of one or more processes. The job of every worker is to receive the work of others, add value to that work, and supply it to the next person in the process. This is called the triple role the workers as customer, processor, and supplier. The main source of quality defects is problems in the process. The old assumption is that quality fails when people do the right thing wrong; the new assumption is that, more often, quality failures arise when people do the wrong think right. Exhortation, incentives and discipline of workers are unlikely to improve quality. If quality is failing when people do their jobs as designed, then exhorting them to do better is managerial nonsense. Modern quality theory is customer focused. Customers are identified internally and externally. The modern approach to quality is thoroughly grounded in scientific and statistical thinking. Like in medicine, the symptom is a defect in quality. The therapist of process must perform diagnostic

Information technology as a tool to improve the quality of American Indian health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Sequist, Thomas D; Cullen, Theresa; Ayanian, John Z

2005-12-01

The American Indian/Alaska Native population experiences a disproportionate burden of disease across a spectrum of conditions. While the recent National Healthcare Disparities Report highlighted differences in quality of care among racial and ethnic groups, there was only very limited information available for American Indians. The Indian Health Service (IHS) is currently enhancing its information systems to improve the measurement of health care quality as well as to support quality improvement initiatives. We summarize current knowledge regarding health care quality for American Indians, highlighting the variation in reported measures in the existing literature. We then discuss how the IHS is using information systems to produce standardized performance measures and present future directions for improving American Indian health care quality.

Solutions to Improve Educational Management Quality

OpenAIRE

Ramezan Jahanian; Masoomeh Motahari

2013-01-01

Nowadays, enhancing the quality in educational systems of different countries has gained especial importance and stand. Improving utilizing and increasing the quality in our country’s educational system is felt too. One of the utilizing factors in education system is to improve the educational management quality.In this article, effective factors in educational management quality and one of its improving solutions, thorough management quality, is analyzed.

Helping COPD patients change health behavior in order to improve their quality of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Almagro P

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Pere Almagro, Alejandra CastroAcute Geriatric Care Unity, Internal Medicine Department, University Hospital Mútua de Terrassa, Barcelona, SpainAbstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is one of the most prevalent and debilitating diseases in adults worldwide and is associated with a deleterious effect on the quality of life of affected patients. Although it remains one of the leading causes of global mortality, the prognosis seems to have improved in recent years. Even so, the number of patients with COPD and multiple comorbidities has risen, hindering their management and highlighting the need for futures changes in the model of care. Together with standard medical treatment and therapy adherence – essential to optimizing disease control – several nonpharmacological therapies have proven useful in the management of these patients, improving their health-related quality of life (HRQoL regardless of lung function parameters. Among these are improved diagnosis and treatment of comorbidities, prevention of COPD exacerbations, and greater attention to physical disability related to hospitalization. Pulmonary rehabilitation reduces symptoms, optimizes functional status, improves activity and daily function, and restores the highest level of independent physical function in these patients, thereby improving HRQoL even more than pharmacological treatment. Greater physical activity is significantly correlated with improvement of dyspnea, HRQoL, and mobility, along with a decrease in the loss of lung function. Nutritional support in malnourished COPD patients improves exercise capacity, while smoking cessation slows disease progression and increases HRQoL. Other treatments such as psychological and behavioral therapies have proven useful in the treatment of depression and anxiety, both of which are frequent in these patients. More recently, telehealthcare has been associated with improved quality of life and a reduction in exacerbations

Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea.

Science.gov (United States)

Clasen, Thomas F; Alexander, Kelly T; Sinclair, David; Boisson, Sophie; Peletz, Rachel; Chang, Howard H; Majorin, Fiona; Cairncross, Sandy

2015-10-20

Diarrhoea is a major cause of death and disease, especially among young children in low-income countries. In these settings, many infectious agents associated with diarrhoea are spread through water contaminated with faeces.In remote and low-income settings, source-based water quality improvement includes providing protected groundwater (springs, wells, and bore holes), or harvested rainwater as an alternative to surface sources (rivers and lakes). Point-of-use water quality improvement interventions include boiling, chlorination, flocculation, filtration, or solar disinfection, mainly conducted at home. To assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea. We searched the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialized Register (11 November 2014), CENTRAL (the Cochrane Library, 7 November 2014), MEDLINE (1966 to 10 November 2014), EMBASE (1974 to 10 November 2014), and LILACS (1982 to 7 November 2014). We also handsearched relevant conference proceedings, contacted researchers and organizations working in the field, and checked references from identified studies through 11 November 2014. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs, and controlled before-and-after studies (CBA) comparing interventions aimed at improving the microbiological quality of drinking water with no intervention in children and adults. Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. We used meta-analyses to estimate pooled measures of effect, where appropriate, and investigated potential sources of heterogeneity using subgroup analyses. We assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. Forty-five cluster-RCTs, two quasi-RCTs, and eight CBA studies, including over 84,000 participants, met the inclusion criteria. Most included studies were conducted in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) (50 studies) with unimproved water sources (30 studies) and unimproved or unclear sanitation (34 studies). The primary

45 CFR 98.51 - Activities to improve the quality of child care.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... health and safety, nutrition, first aid, the recognition of communicable diseases, child abuse detection... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Activities to improve the quality of child care... CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND Use of Child Care and Development Funds § 98.51 Activities to improve...

A quality improvement project to improve the effectiveness and patient-centredness of management of people with mild-to-moderate kidney disease in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Nicola; Gallagher, Hugh; Jain, Neerja

2014-01-01

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3 to 5, affects 6-7% of the adult population and is an important risk factor for both advanced kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. This paper describes a quality improvement project that aimed to establish consistent implementation of best practice in people with stage 3-5 kidney disease who were managed in primary care. The intervention was a Care Bundle for CKD. The bundle included three evidence-based, high impact interventions based on National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE, 2008) guidance, with an additional and novel self-management element. 29 GP Practices in England and Wales began the study. They undertook training in clinical management of CKD and in facilitation of self-management, with the self-management content designed and led by patients. Practices were asked to report baseline and then monthly outcome data extracted from practice computer systems. The project team provided implementation and ongoing quality improvement support for participating Practices. Ten Practices dropped out of the study following the training. Data submissions were incomplete in six Practices who continued to apply the care bundle. At the project end, a decision was taken by the study team to perform the final analysis on those thirteen Practices which completed the project and submitted at least six sets of monthly Practice-level outcome data. In these Practices the Care Bundle was applied to under 20% of the registered CKD stage 3 to 5 population in 5 Practices, 20-29% in 3 Practices, 30-49% in 2 Practices and ≥50% in 3 Practices (998 patients in total). Of these, 671 patients (75%) agreed to the self-management component of the intervention. The reliability (at project end) in those who received the Bundle was 100%. The Bundle was applied to an additional 315 patients in the six Practices who completed the project but did not submit regular practice-level monthly data. In the thirteen remaining Practices, the achievement

How to Improve the Quality of Screening Endoscopy in Korea: National Endoscopy Quality Improvement Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Yu Kyung

2016-07-01

In Korea, gastric cancer screening, either esophagogastroduodenoscopy or upper gastrointestinal series (UGIS), is performed biennially for adults aged 40 years or older. Screening endoscopy has been shown to be associated with localized cancer detection and better than UGIS. However, the diagnostic sensitivity of detecting cancer is not satisfactory. The National Endoscopy Quality Improvement (QI) program was initiated in 2009 to enhance the quality of medical institutions and improve the effectiveness of the National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP). The Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy developed quality standards through a broad systematic review of other endoscopic quality guidelines and discussions with experts. The standards comprise five domains: qualifications of endoscopists, endoscopic unit facilities and equipment, endoscopic procedure, endoscopy outcomes, and endoscopic reprocessing. After 5 years of the QI program, feedback surveys showed that the perception of QI and endoscopic practice improved substantially in all domains of quality, but the quality standards need to be revised. How to avoid missing cancer in endoscopic procedures in daily practice was reviewed, which can be applied to the mass screening endoscopy. To improve the quality and effectiveness of NCSP, key performance indicators, acceptable quality standards, regular audit, and appropriate reimbursement are necessary.

Workers' Objectives in Quality Improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Brossard, Michel

1990-01-01

A case study of quality circles in an appliance factory found that circle members and nonmembers obtained better working conditions by improving quality through the direct impact of their work on the company's market position. The study of the quality improvement process shows that workers seek more than psychological rewards for their…

[Effectiveness of an educational program for respiratory rehabilitation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patients in Primary Care in improving the quality of life, symptoms, and clinical risk].

Science.gov (United States)

Blánquez Moreno, Cristina; Colungo Francia, Cristina; Alvira Balada, M Carme; Kostov, Belchin; González-de Paz, Luis; Sisó-Almirall, Antoni

2017-10-04

To determine the impact of an educational program to improve the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that contributes to an increase of the quality of life, exercise capacity, level of dyspnoea, and clinical risk. Intervention study without controls. Primary Healthcare Centre. 193 patients with COPD were invited, 73 accepted and 55 participated in the educational program. Respiratory rehabilitation educational program with basic concepts of pulmonary and respiratory pathophysiology, respiratory physiotherapy exercises, practical workshop on the use of the most frequent inhalation devices, understanding of chronic disease and self-care measures in case of exacerbation. The quality of life (the COPD assessment test), exercise tolerance (the Six-Minute Walk Test), rating of perceived exertion (Borg Dyspnoea Score) and clinical risk (BODE index) were assessed by means of validated questionnaires in Spanish. A total of 43 (78.2%) participants completed the program. An improvement in the quality of life by a mean of 3.3 points was observed (95%CI; 1.76-4.84). Just over half (53.5%) of the participants obtained a clinically relevant improvement. Participants also improved their physical exercise capacity at post-intervention by increasing the distance that they walked in 6min by a mean of 20.76m (95%CI; 2.57-38.95). Improvements in the level of dyspnoea and clinical risk were also observed. The educational program shows a statistically significant and clinically relevant improvement in the quality of life, fatigue, symptomatology, exercise capacity, level of dyspnoea, and clinical risk. The program is adaptable to the health care routine of healthcare centres. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Providing Our Fellows in Training with Education on Inflammatory Bowel Disease Health Maintenance to Improve the Quality of Care in Our Health Care System.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ann Joo; Kraemer, Dale F; Smotherman, Carmen; Eid, Emely

2016-01-01

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) quality measures were established in an effort to standardize IBD health care. Despite effort to improve clinical performance, considerable variations in practice still exist. To further improve IBD health care, we propose incorporating an in-service educational session on IBD health maintenance to provide trainees with increasing awareness and knowledge on IBD management. Fifty electronic medical charts were randomly selected, and the level of quality documentation was assessed for 15 core IBD quality measures. Data were reported as the percentage of charts meeting audit criteria (compliance score). Fellows then attended an in-service educational session to review IBD quality measures and reinforce practice expectations. A second audit was then performed on an additional 50 patient charts to determine whether documentation practices improved after the educational session. We found a positive correlation between an in-service educational session and fellows' compliance with IBD health maintenance. Overall, the fellows' compliance score increased by 18% (before intervention, 65%; after intervention, 83%; P bases for IBD health maintenance. Incorporating a standard curriculum on IBD health maintenance provides fellows in training with increased awareness and guidance on managing the unique preventive care needs of patients with IBD.

Creating Quality Improvement Culture in Public Health Agencies

Science.gov (United States)

Mahanna, Elizabeth; Joly, Brenda; Zelek, Michael; Riley, William; Verma, Pooja; Fisher, Jessica Solomon

2014-01-01

Objectives. We conducted case studies of 10 agencies that participated in early quality improvement efforts. Methods. The agencies participated in a project conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (2007–2008). Case study participants included health directors and quality improvement team leaders and members. We implemented multiple qualitative analysis processes, including cross-case analysis and logic modeling. We categorized agencies according to the extent to which they had developed a quality improvement culture. Results. Agencies were conducting informal quality improvement projects (n = 4), conducting formal quality improvement projects (n = 3), or creating a quality improvement culture (n = 4). Agencies conducting formal quality improvement and creating a quality improvement culture had leadership support for quality improvement, participated in national quality improvement initiatives, had a greater number of staff trained in quality improvement and quality improvement teams that met regularly with decision-making authority. Agencies conducting informal quality improvement were likely to report that accreditation is the major driver for quality improvement work. Agencies creating a quality improvement culture were more likely to have a history of evidence-based decision-making and use quality improvement to address emerging issues. Conclusions. Our findings support previous research and add the roles of national public health accreditation and emerging issues as factors in agencies’ ability to create and sustain a quality improvement culture. PMID:24228680

Creating quality improvement culture in public health agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Mary V; Mahanna, Elizabeth; Joly, Brenda; Zelek, Michael; Riley, William; Verma, Pooja; Fisher, Jessica Solomon

2014-01-01

We conducted case studies of 10 agencies that participated in early quality improvement efforts. The agencies participated in a project conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (2007-2008). Case study participants included health directors and quality improvement team leaders and members. We implemented multiple qualitative analysis processes, including cross-case analysis and logic modeling. We categorized agencies according to the extent to which they had developed a quality improvement culture. Agencies were conducting informal quality improvement projects (n = 4), conducting formal quality improvement projects (n = 3), or creating a quality improvement culture (n = 4). Agencies conducting formal quality improvement and creating a quality improvement culture had leadership support for quality improvement, participated in national quality improvement initiatives, had a greater number of staff trained in quality improvement and quality improvement teams that met regularly with decision-making authority. Agencies conducting informal quality improvement were likely to report that accreditation is the major driver for quality improvement work. Agencies creating a quality improvement culture were more likely to have a history of evidence-based decision-making and use quality improvement to address emerging issues. Our findings support previous research and add the roles of national public health accreditation and emerging issues as factors in agencies' ability to create and sustain a quality improvement culture.

What makes British general practitioners take part in a quality improvement scheme?

Science.gov (United States)

Spooner, A; Chapple, A; Roland, M

2001-07-01

To understand the reasons for the apparent success of a quality improvement scheme designed to produce widespread changes in chronic disease management in primary care. Purposeful sample of 36 primary care staff, managers and specialists. Qualitative analysis of 27 interviews in East Kent Health Authority area, where, over a three-year period, more than three-quarters of general practitioners (GPs) and enrolled in a quality improvement programme which required them to meet challenging chronic disease management targets (PRImary Care Clinical Effectiveness--PRICCE). Major changes in clinical practice appeared to have taken place as a result of participation in PRICCE. The scheme was significantly dependent on leadership from the health authority and on local professional support. Factors that motivated GPs to take part in the project included: a desire to improve patient care; financial incentives; maintenance of professional autonomy in how to reach the targets; maintenance of professional pride; and peer pressure. Good teamworking was essential to successful completion of the project and often improved as a result of taking part. The scheme included a combination of interventions known to be effective in producing professional behavioural change. When managerial vision is aligned to professional values, and combined with a range of interventions known to influence professional behaviour including financial incentives, substantial changes in clinical practice can result. Lessons are drawn for future quality improvement programmes in the National Health Service.

Do Clinical Practice Guidelines Improve Quality?

Science.gov (United States)

Baldassari, Cristina M

2017-07-01

Controversy exists surrounding how to best define and assess quality in the health care setting. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed to improve the quality of medical care by highlighting key clinical recommendations based on recent evidence. However, data linking CPGs to improvements in outcomes in otolaryngology are lacking. Numerous barriers contribute to difficulties in translating CPGs to improvements in quality. Future initiatives are needed to improve CPG adherence and define the impact of CPG recommendations on the quality of otolaryngologic care provided to our patients.

SQIMSO: Quality Improvement for Small Software Organizations

OpenAIRE

Rabih Zeineddine; Nashat Mansour

2005-01-01

Software quality improvement process remains incomplete if it is not initiated and conducted through a wide improvement program that considers process quality improvement, product quality improvement and evolution of human resources. But, small software organizations are not capable of bearing the cost of establishing software process improvement programs. In this work, we propose a new software quality improvement model for small organizations, SQIMSO, based on three ...

Sustained participation in annual continuous quality improvement activities improves quality of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Science.gov (United States)

McAullay, Daniel; McAuley, Kimberley; Bailie, Ross; Mathews, Veronica; Jacoby, Peter; Gardner, Karen; Sibthorpe, Beverly; Strobel, Natalie; Edmond, Karen

2018-02-01

To determine whether participation in the continuous quality improvement (CQI) Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease programme improved care and outcomes for Indigenous children. Data were collected from 59 Australian primary health-care centres providing services to Indigenous people and participating in the programme (February 2008 and December 2013). Indigenous children aged less than 2 years and centres that completed three or more consecutive annual audits within the 6-year study period were included. Crude and adjusted logistic generalised estimating equation models were used to examine the effect of year of audit on the delivery of care. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Outcomes were related to age-relevant health issues, including prevention and early intervention. These included administrative, health check, anticipatory guidance and specific health issues. During the audit period, there were 2360 files from 59 centres. Those that had a recall recorded, improved from 84 to 95% (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.44-4.11). Hearing assessments improved from 52 to 89% (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.22-1.54). Improvement in anticipatory guidance, treatment and follow-up of medical conditions was almost universal. We documented significant improvements in quality of care of Indigenous children. Outcomes and their corresponding treatment and follow-ups improved over time. This appears to be related to services participating in annual CQI activities. However, these services may be more committed to CQI than others and therefore possibly better performing. © 2017 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Analysis of factors affecting the quality of life of those suffering from Crohn's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Chrobak-Bień, Joanna; Gawor, Anna; Paplaczyk, Małgorzata; Małecka-Panas, Ewa; Gąsiorowska, Anita

2017-08-31

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology. Its chronic nature, as well as symptoms of intestinal and overall significantly impedes the daily functioning of patients. Alternately occurring periods of exacerbation and remission are the cause of reduced quality of life of patients. Understanding the factors that caused the decrease in the quality of life, it allows us to understand the behavior and the situation of the patient and the ability to cope with stress caused by the disease. The aim of the study was to analyze the factors affecting the quality of life of people with Crohn's disease. The study group consisted of 50 people diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Respondents were treated at the Department of General Surgery and Colorectal Medical University of Lodz and Gastroenterological Clinic at the University Clinical Hospital No. 1 in Lodz. Quality of Life Survey was carried out by a diagnostic survey using a research tool SF-36v2 and surveys of its own design. Analysis of the results demonstrated that the quality of life of patients with Crohn's disease was reduced, especially during exacerbations. Evaluation of the quality of life of respondents in physical terms was slightly higher than in the mental aspect. Higher education subjects and the lack of need for surgical treatment significantly improves the quality of life. The occurrence of chronic disease reduces the quality of life of respondents. Elderly patients are better able to adapt to the difficult situation caused by the disease. The quality of life of women and men is at a similar level and patients in remission of the disease have a better quality of life of patients during exacerbations.

Quality of chronic kidney disease management in primary care: a retrospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Gelder, Vincent A; Scherpbier-De Haan, Nynke D; De Grauw, Wim J C; Vervoort, Gerald M M; Van Weel, Chris; Biermans, Marion C J; Braspenning, Jozé C C; Wetzels, Jack F M

2016-01-01

Early detection and appropriate management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in primary care are essential to reduce morbidity and mortality. To assess the quality of care (QoC) of CKD in primary healthcare in relation to patient and practice characteristics in order to tailor improvement strategies. Retrospective study using data between 2008 and 2011 from 47 general practices (207 469 patients of whom 162 562 were adults). CKD management of patients under the care of their general practitioner (GP) was qualified using indicators derived from the Dutch interdisciplinary CKD guideline for primary care and nephrology and included (1) monitoring of renal function, albuminuria, blood pressure, and glucose, (2) monitoring of metabolic parameters, and alongside the guideline: (3) recognition of CKD. The outcome indicator was (4) achieving blood pressure targets. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was applied to identify associated patient and practice characteristics. Kidney function or albuminuria data were available for 59 728 adult patients; 9288 patients had CKD, of whom 8794 were under GP care. Monitoring of disease progression was complete in 42% of CKD patients, monitoring of metabolic parameters in 2%, and blood pressure target was reached in 43.1%. GPs documented CKD in 31.4% of CKD patients. High QoC was strongly associated with diabetes, and to a lesser extent with hypertension and male sex. Room for improvement was found in all aspects of CKD management. As QoC was higher in patients who received structured diabetes care, future CKD care may profit from more structured primary care management, e.g. according to the chronic care model. Quality of care for chronic kidney disease patients in primary care can be improved. In comparison with guideline advice, adequate monitoring of disease progression was observed in 42%, of metabolic parameters in 2%, correct recognition of impaired renal function in 31%, and reaching blood pressure targets in 43% of chronic

Improved clinical status, quality of life, and walking capacity in Parkinson's disease after body weight-supported high-intensity locomotor training.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Martin H; Løkkegaard, Annemette; Sonne-Holm, Stig; Jensen, Bente R

2013-04-01

To evaluate the effect of body weight-supported progressive high-intensity locomotor training in Parkinson's disease (PD) on (1) clinical status; (2) quality of life; and (3) gait capacity. Open-label, fixed sequence crossover study. University motor control laboratory. Patients (N=13) with idiopathic PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage 2 or 3) and stable medication use. Patients completed an 8-week (3 × 1h/wk) training program on a lower-body positive-pressure treadmill. Body weight support was used to facilitate increased intensity and motor challenges during treadmill training. The training program contained combinations of (1) running and walking intervals, (2) the use of sudden changes (eg, in body weight support and speed), (3) different types of locomotion (eg, chassé, skipping, and jumps), and (4) sprints at 50 percent body weight. The Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 items (PDQ-39), and the six-minute walk test were conducted 8 weeks before and pre- and posttraining. At the end of training, statistically significant improvements were found in all outcome measures compared with the control period. Total MDS-UPDRS score changed from (mean ± 1SD) 58±18 to 47±18, MDS-UPDRS motor part score changed from 35±10 to 29±12, PDQ-39 summary index score changed from 22±13 to 13±12, and the six-minute walking distance changed from 576±93 to 637±90m. Body weight-supported progressive high-intensity locomotor training is feasible and well tolerated by patients with PD. The training improved clinical status, quality of life, and gait capacity significantly. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implementing a user-driven online quality improvement toolkit for cancer care.

Science.gov (United States)

Luck, Jeff; York, Laura S; Bowman, Candice; Gale, Randall C; Smith, Nina; Asch, Steven M

2015-05-01

Peer-to-peer collaboration within integrated health systems requires a mechanism for sharing quality improvement lessons. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) developed online compendia of tools linked to specific cancer quality indicators. We evaluated awareness and use of the toolkits, variation across facilities, impact of social marketing, and factors influencing toolkit use. A diffusion of innovations conceptual framework guided the collection of user activity data from the Toolkit Series SharePoint site and an online survey of potential Lung Cancer Care Toolkit users. The VA Toolkit Series site had 5,088 unique visitors in its first 22 months; 5% of users accounted for 40% of page views. Social marketing communications were correlated with site usage. Of survey respondents (n = 355), 54% had visited the site, of whom 24% downloaded at least one tool. Respondents' awareness of the lung cancer quality performance of their facility, and facility participation in quality improvement collaboratives, were positively associated with Toolkit Series site use. Facility-level lung cancer tool implementation varied widely across tool types. The VA Toolkit Series achieved widespread use and a high degree of user engagement, although use varied widely across facilities. The most active users were aware of and active in cancer care quality improvement. Toolkit use seemed to be reinforced by other quality improvement activities. A combination of user-driven tool creation and centralized toolkit development seemed to be effective for leveraging health information technology to spread disease-specific quality improvement tools within an integrated health care system. Copyright © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Quality improvement and emerging global health priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Mensah Abrampah, Nana; Syed, Shamsuzzoha Babar; Hirschhorn, Lisa R; Nambiar, Bejoy; Iqbal, Usman; Garcia-Elorrio, Ezequiel; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Devnani, Mahesh; Kelley, Edward

2018-01-01

Abstract Quality improvement approaches can strengthen action on a range of global health priorities. Quality improvement efforts are uniquely placed to reorient care delivery systems towards integrated people-centred health services and strengthen health systems to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This article makes the case for addressing shortfalls of previous agendas by articulating the critical role of quality improvement in the Sustainable Development Goal era. Quality improvement can stimulate convergence between health security and health systems; address global health security priorities through participatory quality improvement approaches; and improve health outcomes at all levels of the health system. Entry points for action include the linkage with antimicrobial resistance and the contentious issue of the health of migrants. The work required includes focussed attention on the continuum of national quality policy formulation, implementation and learning; alongside strengthening the measurement-improvement linkage. Quality improvement plays a key role in strengthening health systems to achieve UHC. PMID:29873793

Quality assessment of diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of infectious diseases in primary care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Saust, Laura Trolle; Monrad, Rikke Nygaard; Hansen, Malene Plejdrup

2016-01-01

QIs, especially disease-specific QIs concerning the diagnostic process, is needed. KEY POINTS In order to improve the use of antibiotics in primary care, measurable instruments, such as quality indicators, are needed to assess the quality of care being provided. A total of 11 studies were found......OBJECTIVE: To identify existing quality indicators (QIs) for diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of patients with infectious diseases in primary care. DESIGN: A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE. We included studies with a description of the development of QIs...... for diagnosis and antibiotic use in patients with infectious diseases in primary care. We extracted information about (1) type of infection; (2) target for quality assessment; (3) methodology used for developing the QIs; and (4) whether the QIs were developed for a national or international application. The QIs...

Aerobic exercise improves quality of life, psychological well-being and systemic inflammation in subjects with Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Abd El-Kader, Shehab M; Al-Jiffri, Osama H

2016-12-01

Alzheimer's disease has a destructive drawbacks on the patient and his/her entire family as this disease badly af fects the behavior, cognition and abilities to do activities of daily living (ADL). The physical and mental benefits of exercise are widely known but seldom available to persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The aim of this study was to measure quality of life, systemic inflammation and psychological well-being response to aerobic exercises in Alzheimer's. Forty Alzheimer elderly subjects were enrolled in two groups; the first group received treadmill aerobic exercise, while the second group was considered as a control group and received no training intervention for two months. Assessment of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES),Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Profile of Mood States(POMS) and SF-36 health quality of life (SF-36 HRQL) were taken before and at the end of the study. There was a 25.2%, 19.4%, 23.5%, 21.3%, 17.7% , 11.7%, 12.5% and 10.1 % reduction in mean values of TNF-α, IL-6, BDI, POMS, health transition SF-36 subscale, bodily pain SF-36 subscale, role functioning: emotional SF-36 subscale and mental health SF-36 subscale respectively in addition to 15.7%, 13.1%, 12.6%, 11.1%, 13.2% and 11.2 % increase in mean values of RSES, physical functioning SF-36 subscale, role functioning:physical SF-36 subscale, general health SF-36 subscale, Vitality SF-36 subscale and Social functioning SF-36 subscale respectively in group (A) received aerobic exercise training, so that there was a significant reduction in the mean values of TNF-α, IL-6, BDI & POMS and increase in the mean values of SF-36 HRQL subscale scores, RSES in group (A) as a result of aerobic exercise training, while the results of group (B) who received no training intervention were not significant. Also, there were significant differences between mean levels of the investigated parameters in group (A) and group (B) at

Adherence therapy improves medication adherence and quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease: a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Daley, D J; Deane, K H O; Gray, R J; Clark, A B; Pfeil, M; Sabanathan, K; Worth, P F; Myint, P K

2014-08-01

Many factors are associated with medication non-adherence in Parkinson's disease (PD), including complex treatment regimens, mood disorders and impaired cognition. However, interventions to improve adherence which acknowledge such factors are lacking. A phase II randomised controlled trial was conducted investigating whether Adherence Therapy (AT) improves medication adherence and quality of life (QoL) compared with routine care (RC) in PD. Eligible PD patients and their spouse/carers were randomised to intervention (RC plus AT) or control (RC alone). Primary outcomes were change in adherence (Morisky Medication Adherence Scale) and QoL (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39) from baseline to week-12 follow up. Secondary outcomes were MDS-UPDRS (part I, II, IV), Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire (BMQ), EuroQol (EQ-5D) and the Caregiving Distress Scale. Blinded data were analysed using logistic and linear regression models based on the intention-to-treat principle. Seventy-six patients and 46 spouse/carers completed the study (intervention: n = 38 patients, n = 24 spouse/carers). At week-12 AT significantly improved adherence compared with RC (OR 8.2; 95% CI: 2.8, 24.3). Numbers needed to treat (NNT) were 2.2 (CI: 1.6, 3.9). Compared with RC, AT significantly improved PDQ-39 (-9.0 CI: -12.2, -5.8), BMQ general harm (-1.0 CI: -1.9, -0.2) and MDS-UPDRS part II (-4.8 CI: -8.1, -1.4). No significant interaction was observed between the presence of a spouse/carer and the effect of AT. Adherence Therapy improved self-reported adherence and QoL in a PD sample. The small NNT suggests AT may be cost-effective. A larger pragmatic trial to test the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of AT by multiple therapists is required. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

How to Begin a Quality Improvement Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Silver, Samuel A; Harel, Ziv; McQuillan, Rory; Weizman, Adam V; Thomas, Alison; Chertow, Glenn M; Nesrallah, Gihad; Bell, Chaim M; Chan, Christopher T

2016-05-06

Quality improvement involves a combined effort among health care staff and stakeholders to diagnose and treat problems in the health care system. However, health care professionals often lack training in quality improvement methods, which makes it challenging to participate in improvement efforts. This article familiarizes health care professionals with how to begin a quality improvement project. The initial steps involve forming an improvement team that possesses expertise in the quality of care problem, leadership, and change management. Stakeholder mapping and analysis are useful tools at this stage, and these are reviewed to help identify individuals who might have a vested interest in the project. Physician engagement is a particularly important component of project success, and the knowledge that patients/caregivers can offer as members of a quality improvement team should not be overlooked. After a team is formed, an improvement framework helps to organize the scientific process of system change. Common quality improvement frameworks include Six Sigma, Lean, and the Model for Improvement. These models are contrasted, with a focus on the Model for Improvement, because it is widely used and applicable to a variety of quality of care problems without advanced training. It involves three steps: setting aims to focus improvement, choosing a balanced set of measures to determine if improvement occurs, and testing new ideas to change the current process. These new ideas are evaluated using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, where knowledge is gained by testing changes and reflecting on their effect. To show the real world utility of the quality improvement methods discussed, they are applied to a hypothetical quality improvement initiative that aims to promote home dialysis (home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis). This provides an example that kidney health care professionals can use to begin their own quality improvement projects. Copyright © 2016 by the American

IMPROVING CONCEPTUAL DESIGN QUALITY

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bush, Stuart; Robotham, Antony John

1999-01-01

designer to identify clear targets for design improvement and to measure the effectiveness of any new solution, whilst attention to QFD ensures customer requirements are still being satisfied.Often, SME's are not aware of many of the best design practices and so are not able to meet the demand......This paper will consider how Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) processes can be used to improve the design quality of products at the concept stage. We appreciate that both QFD and DFMA are techniques that have been used for some time by mature product...... quality is maintained in design project work. The projects described have been carried out with products manufactured by small to medium sized enterprises (SME's), where we have found significant opportunities for product improvement. The quantitative nature of DFMA analysis results allows the novice...

Continuous quality improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rohlin, Madeleine; Schaub, Rob M.H.; Holbrook, Peter; Leibur, Edvitar; Lévy, Gérard; Roubalikova, Lenka; Nilner, Maria; Roger-Leroi, Valerie; Danner, Gunter; Iseri, Haluk; Feldman, Cecile

2002-01-01

Versch. in: Eur J Dent Educ; 6 (Suppl. 3): 67–77 Continuous quality improvement (CQI) can be envisaged as a circular process of goal-setting, followed by external and internal evaluations resulting in improvements that can serve as goals for a next cycle. The need for CQI is apparent, because of

Does competition improve health care quality?

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlon, Dennis P; Swaminathan, Shailender; Lee, Woolton; Chernew, Michael

2008-12-01

To identify the effect of competition on health maintenance organizations' (HMOs) quality measures. Longitudinal analysis of a 5-year panel of the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey(R) (CAHPS) data (calendar years 1998-2002). All plans submitting data to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) were included regardless of their decision to allow NCQA to disclose their results publicly. NCQA, Interstudy, the Area Resource File, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fixed-effects models were estimated that relate HMO competition to HMO quality controlling for an unmeasured, time-invariant plan, and market traits. Results are compared with estimates from models reliant on cross-sectional variation. Estimates suggest that plan quality does not improve with increased levels of HMO competition (as measured by either the Herfindahl index or the number of HMOs). Similarly, increased HMO penetration is generally not associated with improved quality. Cross-sectional models tend to suggest an inverse relationship between competition and quality. The strategies that promote competition among HMOs in the current market setting may not lead to improved HMO quality. It is possible that price competition dominates, with purchasers and consumers preferring lower premiums at the expense of improved quality, as measured by HEDIS and CAHPS. It is also possible that the fragmentation associated with competition hinders quality improvement.

Nuclear-derived techniques improve cattle productivity and milk quality in Cameroon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dixit, Aabha

2016-01-01

Increasing agricultural production and improving the quality of milk and meat are key to combating poverty and increasing food security in Africa. Countries such as Cameroon are increasingly turning to innovative, nuclear and nuclear-derived techniques to control and prevent diseases among livestock, and boost cattle and milk production.

Using Quality Improvement Methods to Implement an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Supported Individualized Home Pain Management Plan for Children with Sickle Cell Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Crosby, Lori E; Simmons, Kenya; Kaiser, Peggy; Davis, Blair; Boyd, Patricia; Eichhorn, Tiffany; Mahaney, Tracy; Joffe, Naomi; Morgan, Darice; Schibler, Kathy; Anderson, Viia; Quinn, Charles T; Kalinyak, Karen A

2014-05-01

Using quality improvement methodology, our goal was to develop and implement individualized home pain management plans (HPMP) that included pharmacologic as well as non-pharmacologic strategies for children with sickle cell disease (SCD). We hypothesized that successfully implemented HPMPs would have an impact on Emergency Department (ED) use, decreasing ED visits for uncomplicated SCD pain episodes. A multidisciplinary quality improvement team developed a questionnaire to assess the frequency, location and severity of a patient's pain during a routine, comprehensive visit in order to help the patient and family develop an effective pain management strategy using both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic actions. Using plan do study act cycles (PDSAs), this team was able to build this process into the daily workflow for all SCD patients age 5 years to 21 years of age. Patients with comprehensive visits scheduled from January 2012 to May 2013 were included (N=188) in the intervention. By May of 2013, 88% of eligible patients had an individualized HPMP in place. There was a concomitant reduction in the percentage of SCD patients seen in the ED for uncomplicated SCD pain (6.9% vs. 1.1%). Using quality improvement methods, an individualized HPMP intervention was incorporated successfully into the daily workflow of a busy outpatient SCD clinic. This intervention has the potential to improve patient outcomes by decreasing avoidable ED visits as well as reducing overall healthcare costs.

Effect of a computer-guided, quality improvement program for cardiovascular disease risk management in primary health care: the treatment of cardiovascular risk using electronic decision support cluster-randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Peiris, David; Usherwood, Tim; Panaretto, Kathryn; Harris, Mark; Hunt, Jennifer; Redfern, Julie; Zwar, Nicholas; Colagiuri, Stephen; Hayman, Noel; Lo, Serigne; Patel, Bindu; Lyford, Marilyn; MacMahon, Stephen; Neal, Bruce; Sullivan, David; Cass, Alan; Jackson, Rod; Patel, Anushka

2015-01-01

Despite effective treatments to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, their translation into practice is limited. Using a parallel arm cluster-randomized controlled trial in 60 Australian primary healthcare centers, we tested whether a multifaceted quality improvement intervention comprising computerized decision support, audit/feedback tools, and staff training improved (1) guideline-indicated risk factor measurements and (2) guideline-indicated medications for those at high cardiovascular disease risk. Centers had to use a compatible software system, and eligible patients were regular attendees (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged ≥ 35 years and others aged ≥ 45 years). Patient-level analyses were conducted using generalized estimating equations to account for clustering. Median follow-up for 38,725 patients (mean age, 61.0 years; 42% men) was 17.5 months. Mean monthly staff support was improved overall risk factor measurements (62.8% versus 53.4% risk ratio; 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.50; P=0.02), but there was no significant differences in recommended prescriptions for the high-risk cohort (n=10,308; 56.8% versus 51.2%; P=0.12). There were significant treatment escalations (new prescriptions or increased numbers of medicines) for antiplatelet (17.9% versus 2.7%; Pquality improvement intervention, requiring minimal support, improved cardiovascular disease risk measurement but did not increase prescription rates in the high-risk group. Computerized quality improvement tools offer an important, albeit partial, solution to improving primary healthcare system capacity for cardiovascular disease risk management. https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=336630. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry No. 12611000478910. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Moving up the Ladder: How Do States Deliver Quality Improvement Supports within Their Quality Rating and Improvement Systems? Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Holod, Aleksandra; Faria, Ann-Marie; Weinberg, Emily; Howard, Eboni

2015-01-01

As national attention has increasingly focused on the potential for high-quality early childhood education (ECE) to improve children's school readiness, states have developed quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) to document the quality of ECE programs, support systematic quality improvement, and provide clear information to families…

Using Quality Tools and Methodologies to Improve a Hospital's Quality Position.

Science.gov (United States)

Branco, Daniel; Wicks, Angela M; Visich, John K

2017-01-01

The authors identify the quality tools and methodologies most frequently used by quality-positioned hospitals versus nonquality hospitals. Northeastern U.S. hospitals in both groups received a brief, 12-question survey. The authors found that 93.75% of the quality hospitals and 81.25% of the nonquality hospitals used some form of process improvement methodologies. However, there were significant differences between the groups regarding the impact of quality improvement initiatives on patients. The findings indicate that in quality hospitals the use of quality improvement initiatives had a significantly greater positive impact on patient satisfaction and patient outcomes when compared to nonquality hospitals.

Sleep Disordered Breathing in Chronic SCI: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Treatment Impact on Cognition, Quality of Life, and Cardiovascular Disease

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

Cognition, Quality of Life, and Cardiovascular Disease PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Shirin Shafazand, MD, MS CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: University of Miami...with positive airway pressure (PAP) will improve cognitive impairment, sleep quality, quality of life, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) surrogate...Randomized Controlled Trial of Treatment Impact on Cognition, Quality of Life, and Cardiovascular Disease Shirin Shafazand, MD, MS Nothing listed 12

Quality improvement strategies and tools: A comparative analysis between Italy and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Villa, Stefano; Restuccia, Joseph D; Anessi-Pessina, Eugenio; Rizzo, Marco Giovanni; Cohen, Alan B

2018-01-01

Italian and American hospitals, in two different periods, have been urged by external circumstances to extensively redesign their quality improvement strategies. This paper, through the use of a survey administered to chief quality officers in both countries, aims to identify commonalities and differences between the two systems and to understand which approaches are effective in improving quality of care. In both countries chief quality officers report quality improvement has become a strategic priority, clinical governance approaches, and tools-such as disease-specific quality improvement projects and clinical pathways-are commonly used, and there is widespread awareness that clinical decision making must be supported by protocols and guidelines. Furthermore, the study clearly outlines the critical importance of adopting a system-wide approach to quality improvement. To this extent Italy seems lagging behind compared to US in fact: (i) responsibilities for different dimensions of quality are spread across different organizational units; (ii) quality improvement strategies do not typically involve administrative staff; and (iii) quality performance measures are not disseminated widely within the organization but are reported primarily to top management. On the other hand, in Italy chief quality officers perceive that the typical hospital organizational structure, which is based on clinical directories, allows better coordination between clinical specialties than in the United States. In both countries, the results of the study show that it is not the single methodology/model that makes the difference but how the different quality improvement strategies and tools interact to each other and how they are coherently embedded with the overall organizational strategy.

The impact of leadership qualities on quality management improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ph. D. Radoslaw Wolniak

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Currently, the importance of leadership is considered more and more often in quality management. The need of an appropriate leader has been already emphasized in ISO 9000 standards, in TQM philosophy as well as in different models of improvement which are used in the methodologies of prizing quality. Yet, it is in the concept of TQL where the attitude based on the need of leadership in an organization has achieved its best-developed, full shape. On the basis of the conducted studies, the following publication presents the analysis of the dependence between leadership qualities of managers and the improvement of quality management. There has been an attempt to define the qualities, which a manager being responsible for quality management, should have.

The impact of leadership qualities on quality management improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radoslaw Wolniak

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Currently, the importance of leadership is considered more and more often in quality management. The need of an appropriate leader has been already emphasized in ISO 9000 standards, in TQM philosophy as well as in different models of improvement which are used in the methodologies of prizing quality. Yet, it is in the concept of TQL where the attitude based on the need of leadership in an organization has achieved its best-developed, full shape. On the basis of the conducted studies, the following publication presents the analysis of the dependence between leadership qualities of managers and the improvement of quality management. There has been an attempt to define the qualities, which a manager being responsible for quality management, should have.

Achieving Improvement Through Nursing Home Quality Measurement

OpenAIRE

Harris, Yael; Clauser, Steven B.

2002-01-01

CMS has initiated the Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI) to improve the quality of nursing home care. Central to the NHQI is the public reporting of nursing home quality measures that serve as the basis for the Initiative's communication and quality improvement program. This article provides an overview of the NHQI, focusing on the role of nursing home quality measures in achieving improvements in nursing home care. We also describe the evolution of quality measurement in nursing homes, a...

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus improves pain in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellaprat, Jean; Ory-Magne, Fabienne; Canivet, Cindy; Simonetta-Moreau, Marion; Lotterie, Jean-Albert; Radji, Fatai; Arbus, Christophe; Gerdelat, Angélique; Chaynes, Patrick; Brefel-Courbon, Christine

2014-06-01

In Parkinson's disease (PD), chronic pain is a common symptom which markedly affects the quality of life. Some physiological arguments proposed that Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus (STN-DBS) could improve pain in PD. We investigated in 58 PD patients the effect of STN-DBS on pain using the short McGill Pain Questionnaire and other pain parameters such as the Bodily discomfort subscore of the Parkinson's disease Questionnaire 39 and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale section II (UPDRS II) item 17. All pain scores were significantly improved 12 months after STN-DBS. This improvement was not correlated with motor improvement, depression scores or L-Dopa reduction. STN-DBS induced a substantial beneficial effect on pain in PD, independently of its motor effects and mood status of patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Targeting Environmental Quality to Improve Population Health ...

Science.gov (United States)

Key goals of health care reform are to stimulate innovative approaches to improve healthcare quality and clinical outcomes while holding down costs. To achieve these goals value-based payment places the needs of the patient first and encourages multi-stakeholder cooperation. Yet, the stakeholders are typically all within the healthcare system, e.g. the Accountable Care Organization or Patient-Centered Medical Home, leaving important contributors to the health of the population such as the public health and environmental health systems absent. And rarely is the quality of the environment regarded as a modifiable factor capable of imparting a health benefit. Underscoring this point, a PubMed search of the search terms “environmental quality” with “value-based payment”, “value-based healthcare” or “value-based reimbursement” returned no relevant articles, providing further evidence that the healthcare industry largely disregards the quality of the environment as a significant determinant of wellbeing and an actionable risk factor for clinical disease management and population health intervention. Yet, the quality of the environment is unequivocally related to indicators of population health including all-cause mortality. The EPA’s Environmental Quality Index (EQI) composed of five different domains (air, land use, water, built environment and social) has provided new estimates of the associations between environmental quality and health stat

Improving the quality of care for patients with hypertension in Moshupa District, Botswana: Quality improvement cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cathy Kande

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Although there are no prevalence studies on hypertension in Botswana, this condition is thought to be common and the quality of care to be poor.Aim: The aim of this project was to assess and improve the quality of primary care forhypertension.Setting: Moshupa clinic and catchment area, Botswana.Methods: Quality improvement cycle.Results: Two hundred participants were included in the audit. Sixty-eight per cent were women with a mean age of 55 years. In the baseline audit none of the target standards were met. During the re-audit six months later, six out of nine structural target standards, five out of 11 process target standards and one out of two outcome target standards were achieved. Statistically-significant improvement in performance (p < 0.05 was shown in 10 criteria although the target standard was not always met. In the re-audit, the target of achieving blood pressure control (< 140/90 in 70% of patients was achieved.Conclusion: The quality of care for hypertension was suboptimal in our setting. Simple interventions were designed and implemented to improve the quality of care. These interventions led to significant improvement in structural and process criteria. A corresponding significant improvement in the control of blood pressure was also seen.

Practical Approaches to Quality Improvement for Radiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Aine Marie; Cronin, Paul

2015-10-01

Continuous quality improvement is a fundamental attribute of high-performing health care systems. Quality improvement is an essential component of health care, with the current emphasis on adding value. It is also a regulatory requirement, with reimbursements increasingly being linked to practice performance metrics. Practice quality improvement efforts must be demonstrated for credentialing purposes and for certification of radiologists in practice. Continuous quality improvement must occur for radiologists to remain competitive in an increasingly diverse health care market. This review provides an introduction to the main approaches available to undertake practice quality improvement, which will be useful for busy radiologists. Quality improvement plays multiple roles in radiology services, including ensuring and improving patient safety, providing a framework for implementing and improving processes to increase efficiency and reduce waste, analyzing and depicting performance data, monitoring performance and implementing change, enabling personnel assessment and development through continued education, and optimizing customer service and patient outcomes. The quality improvement approaches and underlying principles overlap, which is not surprising given that they all align with good patient care. The application of these principles to radiology practices not only benefits patients but also enhances practice performance through promotion of teamwork and achievement of goals. © RSNA, 2015.

Association of anaemia in primary care patients with chronic kidney disease: cross sectional study of quality improvement in chronic kidney disease (QICKD) trial data

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Anaemia is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and treating anaemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) may improve outcomes. However, little is known about the scope to improve primary care management of anaemia in CKD. Methods An observational study (N = 1,099,292) with a nationally representative sample using anonymised routine primary care data from 127 Quality Improvement in CKD trial practices (ISRCTN5631023731). We explored variables associated with anaemia in CKD: eGFR, haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), iron status, cardiovascular comorbidities, and use of therapy which associated with gastrointestinal bleeding, oral iron and deprivation score. We developed a linear regression model to identify variables amenable to improved primary care management. Results The prevalence of Stage 3–5 CKD was 6.76%. Hb was lower in CKD (13.2 g/dl) than without (13.7 g/dl). 22.2% of people with CKD had World Health Organization defined anaemia; 8.6% had Hb ≤ 11 g/dl; 3% Hb ≤ 10 g/dl; and 1% Hb ≤ 9 g/dl. Normocytic anaemia was present in 80.5% with Hb ≤ 11; 72.7% with Hb ≤ 10 g/dl; and 67.6% with Hb ≤ 9 g/dl; microcytic anaemia in 13.4% with Hb ≤ 11 g/dl; 20.8% with Hb ≤ 10 g/dl; and 24.9% where Hb ≤ 9 g/dl. 82.7% of people with microcytic and 58.8% with normocytic anaemia (Hb ≤ 11 g/dl) had a low ferritin (stores may be depleted in over >60% of people with normocytic anaemia. Prescribing oral iron has not corrected anaemia. PMID:23351270

Color Shade Nets Improve Vegetables Quality at Harvest and Maintain Quality During Storage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilić Zoran S.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The photoselective, light-dispersive shade nets can be used as an alternative to protect crops from adverse environmental conditions such as; excessive solar radiation, heat and drought stress, wind and hail, birds, flying pests, thus improving crop’s production, yield and quality. The physiological parameters discussed in the review include: vegetable growth parameters (leaf area, leaf chlorophyll, tissue structure, fruit ripening, physiological disorders, pest and disease incidence, fruit quality parameters (soluble solids content and titratable acidity, bioactive compounds (antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid, carotenoid and flavonoid contents and aroma volatile compounds at harvest. Also, it is evident in the reviewed literature that light quality influences the biosynthesis, accumulation and retention of vegetable phytochemicals, as well as the decay development during storage. These new strategies to modulate light quality should be conveyed to vegetable producing farmers, thus allowing them to preserve the freshness and post-harvest quality of vegetables for an extended period of time, and to meet the consumers demand for vegetables with high nutritional value all year round. Research on light manipulation in horticultural systems is necessary for a sustainable and market-oriented open field and greenhouse vegetable production in the future.

Improved clinical status, quality of life, and walking capacity in Parkinson's disease after body weight-supported high-intensity locomotor training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Martin Høyer; Løkkegaard, Annemette; Sonne-Holm, Stig

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of body weight-supported progressive high-intensity locomotor training in Parkinson's disease (PD) on (1) clinical status; (2) quality of life; and (3) gait capacity. DESIGN: Open-label, fixed sequence crossover study. SETTING: University motor control laboratory......±93 to 637±90m. CONCLUSIONS: Body weight-supported progressive high-intensity locomotor training is feasible and well tolerated by patients with PD. The training improved clinical status, quality of life, and gait capacity significantly....... were found in all outcome measures compared with the control period. Total MDS-UPDRS score changed from (mean ± 1SD) 58±18 to 47±18, MDS-UPDRS motor part score changed from 35±10 to 29±12, PDQ-39 summary index score changed from 22±13 to 13±12, and the six-minute walking distance changed from 576...

Process safety improvement-Quality and target zero

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Scyoc, Karl [Det Norske Veritas (U.S.A.) Inc., DNV Energy Solutions, 16340 Park Ten Place, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77084 (United States)], E-mail: karl.van.scyoc@dnv.com

2008-11-15

Process safety practitioners have adopted quality management principles in design of process safety management systems with positive effect, yet achieving safety objectives sometimes remain a distant target. Companies regularly apply tools and methods which have roots in quality and productivity improvement. The 'plan, do, check, act' improvement loop, statistical analysis of incidents (non-conformities), and performance trending popularized by Dr. Deming are now commonly used in the context of process safety. Significant advancements in HSE performance are reported after applying methods viewed as fundamental for quality management. In pursuit of continual process safety improvement, the paper examines various quality improvement methods, and explores how methods intended for product quality can be additionally applied to continual improvement of process safety. Methods such as Kaizen, Poke yoke, and TRIZ, while long established for quality improvement, are quite unfamiliar in the process safety arena. These methods are discussed for application in improving both process safety leadership and field work team performance. Practical ways to advance process safety, based on the methods, are given.

Process safety improvement-Quality and target zero

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Scyoc, Karl

2008-01-01

Process safety practitioners have adopted quality management principles in design of process safety management systems with positive effect, yet achieving safety objectives sometimes remain a distant target. Companies regularly apply tools and methods which have roots in quality and productivity improvement. The 'plan, do, check, act' improvement loop, statistical analysis of incidents (non-conformities), and performance trending popularized by Dr. Deming are now commonly used in the context of process safety. Significant advancements in HSE performance are reported after applying methods viewed as fundamental for quality management. In pursuit of continual process safety improvement, the paper examines various quality improvement methods, and explores how methods intended for product quality can be additionally applied to continual improvement of process safety. Methods such as Kaizen, Poke yoke, and TRIZ, while long established for quality improvement, are quite unfamiliar in the process safety arena. These methods are discussed for application in improving both process safety leadership and field work team performance. Practical ways to advance process safety, based on the methods, are given

Process safety improvement--quality and target zero.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Scyoc, Karl

2008-11-15

Process safety practitioners have adopted quality management principles in design of process safety management systems with positive effect, yet achieving safety objectives sometimes remain a distant target. Companies regularly apply tools and methods which have roots in quality and productivity improvement. The "plan, do, check, act" improvement loop, statistical analysis of incidents (non-conformities), and performance trending popularized by Dr. Deming are now commonly used in the context of process safety. Significant advancements in HSE performance are reported after applying methods viewed as fundamental for quality management. In pursuit of continual process safety improvement, the paper examines various quality improvement methods, and explores how methods intended for product quality can be additionally applied to continual improvement of process safety. Methods such as Kaizen, Poke yoke, and TRIZ, while long established for quality improvement, are quite unfamiliar in the process safety arena. These methods are discussed for application in improving both process safety leadership and field work team performance. Practical ways to advance process safety, based on the methods, are given.

Preserving Cognition, Quality of Life, Physical Health and Functional Ability in Alzheimer's Disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmann, Kristine; Frederiksen, Kristian S; Sobol, Nanna Aue

2013-01-01

('Preserving Cognition, Quality of Life, Physical Health and Functional Ability in Alzheimer's Disease: the Effect of Physical Exercise') trial is to establish whether aerobic exercise is effective in improving cognition as well as in reducing the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms among patients......Exercise is hypothesized to improve cognition, physical performance, functional ability and quality of life, but evidence is scarce. Previous studies were of short duration, often underpowered and involving home-based light exercise programs in patients with undefined dementia. The aim of the ADEX...

Quality Improvement Initiatives to Optimize the Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Patients With Lung Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Digby, Geneviève C; Robinson, Andrew

2017-11-01

Patients with lung cancer (LC) frequently have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the optimization of which improves outcomes. A 2014 Queen's University Hospitals audit demonstrated that COPD was underdiagnosed and undertreated in outpatients with LC. We sought to improve the diagnosis and management of COPD in this population. We implemented change using a Define/Measure/Analyze/Improve/Control (DMAIC) improvement cycle. Data were obtained by chart review from the Cancer Care Ontario database and e-Patient System for patients with newly diagnosed LC, including patient characteristics, pulmonary function test (PFT) data, and bronchodilator therapies. Improvement cycle 1 included engaging stakeholders and prioritizing COPD management by respirologists in the Lung Diagnostic Assessment Program. Improvement cycle 2 included physician restructuring and developing a standard work protocol. Data were analyzed monthly and presented on statistical process control P-charts, which assessed differences over time. The χ 2 and McNemar tests assessed for significance between independent and dependent groups, respectively. A total of 477 patients were studied (165 patients at baseline, 166 patients in cycle 1, and 127 patients in cycle 2). There was no change in PFT completion over time, although respirology-managed patients were significantly more likely to undergo a PFT than patients who were not managed by respirology (56.7% v 96.1%; P managed patients with LC with airflow obstruction receiving inhaled bronchodilator significantly increased (baseline, 46.3%; cycle 1, 51.0%; and cycle 2, 74.3%). By cycle 2, patients with airflow obstruction were more likely to receive a long-acting bronchodilator if managed by respirology (74.3% v 44.8%; P = .0009). COPD is underdiagnosed and undertreated in outpatients with LC. A DMAIC quality improvement strategy emphasizing COPD treatment during LC evaluation in the Lung Diagnostic Assessment Program significantly improved COPD

Quality Improvement and Learning in Productive Systems

OpenAIRE

Charles H. Fine

1986-01-01

Recent interest in product quality suggests that effort devoted to improving the quality of manufactured products may reduce unit costs. This conjecture---that improving quality can lower costs---challenges the traditional assumption that unit costs increase with increased quality assurance activities and has significant implications for quality management. By introducing the idea of a quality-based learning curve, this paper links the previously disjoint literatures of quality control and le...

The QICKD study protocol: a cluster randomised trial to compare quality improvement interventions to lower systolic BP in chronic kidney disease (CKD in primary care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

du Bois Elizabeth

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD is a relatively newly recognised but common long-term condition affecting 5 to 10% of the population. Effective management of CKD, with emphasis on strict blood pressure (BP control, reduces cardiovascular risk and slows the progression of CKD. There is currently an unprecedented rise in referral to specialist renal services, which are often located in tertiary centres, inconvenient for patients, and wasteful of resources. National and international CKD guidelines include quality targets for primary care. However, there have been no rigorous evaluations of strategies to implement these guidelines. This study aims to test whether quality improvement interventions improve primary care management of elevated BP in CKD, reduce cardiovascular risk, and slow renal disease progression Design Cluster randomised controlled trial (CRT Methods This three-armed CRT compares two well-established quality improvement interventions with usual practice. The two interventions comprise: provision of clinical practice guidelines with prompts and audit-based education. The study population will be all individuals with CKD from general practices in eight localities across England. Randomisation will take place at the level of the general practices. The intended sample (three arms of 25 practices powers the study to detect a 3 mmHg difference in systolic BP between the different quality improvement interventions. An additional 10 practices per arm will receive a questionnaire to measure any change in confidence in managing CKD. Follow up will take place over two years. Outcomes will be measured using anonymised routinely collected data extracted from practice computer systems. Our primary outcome measure will be reduction of systolic BP in people with CKD and hypertension at two years. Secondary outcomes will include biomedical outcomes and markers of quality, including practitioner confidence in managing CKD. A small

Improving care at cystic fibrosis centers through quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraynack, Nathan C; McBride, John T

2009-10-01

Quality improvement (QI) using a clinical microsystems approach provides cystic fibrosis (CF) centers the opportunity to make a significant positive impact on the health of their patients. The availability of center-specific outcomes data and the support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation are important advantages for these quality improvement efforts. This article illustrates how the clinical microsystems methodology can improve care delivery and outcomes by describing the gradual application of quality improvement principles over the past 5 years by the CF team at the Lewis Walker Cystic Fibrosis Center at Akron Children's Hospital in Akron, Ohio. Using the example of a project to improve the pulmonary function of the pediatric patients at our center as a framework, we describe the QI process from the initial team-building phase, through the assessment of care processes, standardization of care, and developing a culture of continuous improvement. We outline how enthusiastic commitment from physician leadership, clinical managers and central administration, the availability of coaches, and an appreciation of the importance of measurement, patient involvement, communication, and standardization are critical components for successful process improvement. Copyright Thieme Medical Publishers.

Statistical methods for quality improvement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ryan, Thomas P

2011-01-01

...."-TechnometricsThis new edition continues to provide the most current, proven statistical methods for quality control and quality improvementThe use of quantitative methods offers numerous benefits...

Impact of exercise capacity on dyspnea and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Ramune; Frølich, Anne; Godtfredsen, Nina S

2012-01-01

To assess the impact of the amount of exercise training during pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program for improvements in dyspnea and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).......To assess the impact of the amount of exercise training during pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program for improvements in dyspnea and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)....

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: getting it right. Does optimal management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease alter disease progression and improve survival?

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Richard E

2014-03-01

We live in a world where people live longer lives. The standardized mortality rate for many diseases is decreasing. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not following this trend. Over the last 10 years, interventions for COPD have been developed, but have any changed the prognosis or trajectory of this modern epidemic? We review the most recent and classical literature in order to answer this question. Recent analyses of data have clarified which interventions are effective in COPD and which are not. New studies have defined what is achievable with the current therapies. Only two interventions have been demonstrated to improve survival: smoking cessation and long-term oxygen therapy. Other treatments do reduce exacerbations, improve lung function and improve the patient's quality of life, but do not affect physiological disease progression or mortality. There is much work to do, not only to improve the treatments we have for this disease, but also to diagnose it early, intervene at the right time, reduce the treatment side-effects and most importantly understand the pathophysiology better. Moreover, we are duty bound to look at each patient and review what we are trying to achieve for each one through appropriate phenotyping as well as sometimes taking a more palliative approach.

Matrix of regularity for improving the quality of ECGs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia, Henian; Garcia, Gabriel A; Zhao, Xiaopeng; Bains, Jujhar; Wortham, Dale C

2012-01-01

The 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) is the gold standard for diagnosis of abnormalities of the heart. However, the ECG is susceptible to artifacts, which may lead to wrong diagnosis and thus mistreatment. It is a clinical challenge of great significance differentiating ECG artifacts from patterns of diseases. We propose a computational framework, called the matrix of regularity, to evaluate the quality of ECGs. The matrix of regularity is a novel mechanism to fuse results from multiple tests of signal quality. Moreover, this method can produce a continuous grade, which can more accurately represent the quality of an ECG. When tested on a dataset from the Computing in Cardiology/PhysioNet Challenge 2011, the algorithm achieves up to 95% accuracy. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve is 0.97. The developed framework and computer program have the potential to improve the quality of ECGs collected using conventional and portable devices. (paper)

Improving cardiovascular care through outpatient cardiac rehabilitation: an analysis of payment models that would improve quality and promote use.

Science.gov (United States)

Mead, Holly; Grantham, Sarah; Siegel, Bruce

2014-01-01

Much attention has been paid to improving the care of patients with cardiovascular disease by focusing attention on delivery system redesign and payment reforms that encompass the healthcare spectrum, from an acute episode to maintenance of care. However, 1 area of cardiovascular disease care that has received little attention in the advancement of quality is cardiac rehabilitation (CR), a comprehensive secondary prevention program that is significantly underused despite evidence-based guidelines that recommending its use. The purpose of this article was to analyze the applicability of 2 payment and reimbursement models-pay-for-performance and bundled payments for episodes of care--that can promote the use of CR. We conclude that a payment model combining elements of both pay-for-performance and episodes of care would increase the use of CR, which would both improve quality and increase efficiency in cardiac care. Specific elements would need to be clearly defined, however, including: (a) how an episode is defined, (b) how to hold providers accountable for the care they provider, (c) how to encourage participation among CR providers, and (d) how to determine an equitable distribution of payment. Demonstrations testing new payment models must be implemented to generate empirical evidence that a melded pay-for-performance and episode-based care payment model will improve quality and efficiency.

Quality improvement in neurological surgery graduate medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Scott L; McGirt, Matthew J; Asher, Anthony L; Selden, Nathan R

2015-04-01

There has been no formal, standardized curriculum for neurosurgical resident education in quality improvement. There are at least 2 reasons to integrate a formalized quality improvement curriculum into resident education: (1) increased emphasis on the relative quality and value (cost-effectiveness) of health care provided by individual physicians, and (2) quality improvement principles empower broader lifelong learning. An integrated quality improvement curriculum should comprise specific goals and milestones at each level of residency training. This article discusses the role and possible implementation of a national program for quality improvement in neurosurgical resident education. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preanalytical quality improvement: in quality we trust.

Science.gov (United States)

Lippi, Giuseppe; Becan-McBride, Kathleen; Behúlová, Darina; Bowen, Raffick A; Church, Stephen; Delanghe, Joris; Grankvist, Kjell; Kitchen, Steve; Nybo, Mads; Nauck, Matthias; Nikolac, Nora; Palicka, Vladimir; Plebani, Mario; Sandberg, Sverre; Simundic, Ana-Maria

2013-01-01

Total quality in laboratory medicine should be defined as the guarantee that each activity throughout the total testing process is correctly performed, providing valuable medical decision-making and effective patient care. In the past decades, a 10-fold reduction in the analytical error rate has been achieved thanks to improvements in both reliability and standardization of analytical techniques, reagents, and instrumentation. Notable advances in information technology, quality control and quality assurance methods have also assured a valuable contribution for reducing diagnostic errors. Nevertheless, several lines of evidence still suggest that most errors in laboratory diagnostics fall outside the analytical phase, and the pre- and postanalytical steps have been found to be much more vulnerable. This collective paper, which is the logical continuum of the former already published in this journal 2 years ago, provides additional contribution to risk management in the preanalytical phase and is a synopsis of the lectures of the 2nd European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM)-Becton Dickinson (BD) European Conference on Preanalytical Phase meeting entitled "Preanalytical quality improvement: in quality we trust" (Zagreb, Croatia, 1-2 March 2013). The leading topics that will be discussed include quality indicators for preanalytical phase, phlebotomy practices for collection of blood gas analysis and pediatric samples, lipemia and blood collection tube interferences, preanalytical requirements of urinalysis, molecular biology hemostasis and platelet testing, as well as indications on best practices for safe blood collection. Auditing of the preanalytical phase by ISO assessors and external quality assessment for preanalytical phase are also discussed.

Improve strategic supplier performance using DMAIC to develop a Quality Improvement Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Jardim, Kevin P.

Supplier performance that meets the requirements of the customer has long plagued quality professionals. Despite the vast efforts by organizations to improve supplier performance, little has been done to standardize the plan to improve performance. This project presents a guideline and problem-solving strategy using a Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) structured tool that will assist in the management and improvement of supplier performance. An analysis of benchmarked Quality Improvement Plans indicated that this topic needs more focus on how to accomplish improved supplier performance. This project is part of a growing body of supplier continuous improvement efforts. With the input of Zodiac Aerospace quality professionals this project's results provide a solution to Quality Improvement Plans and show objective evidence of its benefits. This project contributes to the future research on similar topics.

Relevance of the Studying Quality of Life Indicator in Children with Allergic Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.Ya. Tkachenko

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This overview focuses on global issues and conceptual approaches to understanding the quality of life. Despite the fairly large number of questionnaires for children, the data in this article demonstrate that the definition of quality of life should be more widely used in pediatric studies. Recently, this criterion is most frequently used to analyze the quality of medical care for patients with chronic diseases. Assessment of quality of life in children with allergic diseases, such as bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, urticaria, is especially important. This is primarily due to the high prevalence of allergic pathology, as well as its significant influence on the daily lives of patients, which certainly involves important social and economic spheres of activity. Improving quality of life is strongly correlated with the appropriate treatment, which is clearly demonstrated by the patients with bronchial asthma, especially in the pediatric population.

Improving Family Meetings in Intensive Care Units: A Quality Improvement Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Gruenewald, David A; Gabriel, Michelle; Rizzo, Dorothy; Luhrs, Carol A

2017-07-01

Family meetings in the intensive care unit are associated with beneficial outcomes for patients, their families, and health care systems, yet these meetings often do not occur in a timely, effective, reliable way. The Department of Veterans Affairs Comprehensive End-of-Life Care Implementation Center sponsored a national initiative to improve family meetings in Veterans Affairs intensive care units across the United States. Process measures of success for the initiative were identified, including development of a curriculum to support facility-based quality improvement projects to implement high-quality family meetings. Identified curriculum requirements included suitability for distance learning and applicability to many clinical intensive care units. Curriculum modules were cross-mapped to the "Plan-Do-Study-Act" model to aid in planning quality improvement projects. A questionnaire was e-mailed to users to evaluate the curriculum's effectiveness. Users rated the curriculum's effectiveness in supporting and achieving aims of the initiative as 3.6 on a scale of 0 (not effective) to 4 (very effective). Users adapted the curriculum to meet local needs. The number of users increased from 6 to 17 quality improvement teams in 2 years. All but 3 teams progressed to implementation of an action plan. Users were satisfied with the effectiveness and adaptability of a family-meeting quality improvement curriculum to support implementation of a quality improvement project in Veterans Affairs intensive care units. This tool may be useful in facilitating projects to improve the quality of family meetings in other intensive care units. ©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Texas Pulse Oximetry Project: A Multicenter Educational and Quality Improvement Project for Implementation of Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening Using Pulse Oximetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillory, Charleta; Gong, Alice; Livingston, Judith; Creel, Liza; Ocampo, Elena; McKee-Garrett, Tiffany

2017-07-01

Objective  Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) is a leading cause of death in infants. Newborn screening (NBS) by pulse oximetry allows early identification of CCHD in asymptomatic newborns. To improve readiness of hospital neonatal birthing facilities for mandatory screening in Texas, an educational and quality improvement (QI) project was piloted to identify an implementation strategy for CCHD NBS in a range of birthing hospitals. Study Design  Thirteen Texas hospitals implemented standardized CCHD screening by pulse oximetry. An educational program was devised and a tool kit was created to facilitate education and implementation. Newborn nursery nurses' knowledge was assessed using a pre- and posttest instrument. Results  The nurses' knowledge assessment improved from 71 to 92.5% ( p  educational program, including a tool kit, QI processes, and standardized pulse oximetry CCHD NBS, is applicable for a range of hospital birthing facilities and may facilitate wide-scale implementation, thereby improving newborn health. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Does strabismus surgery improve quality and mood, and what factors influence this?

Science.gov (United States)

McBain, H B; MacKenzie, K A; Hancox, J; Ezra, D G; Adams, G G W; Newman, S P

2016-05-01

AimsTo establish the impact of adult strabismus surgery on clinical and psychosocial well-being and determine who experiences the greatest benefit from surgery and how one could intervene to improve quality of life post-surgery.MethodsA longitudinal study, with measurements taken pre-surgery and at 3 and 6 months post-surgery. All participants completed the AS-20 a disease specific quality of life scale, along with measures of mood, strabismus and appearance-related beliefs and cognitions and perceived social support. Participants also underwent a full orthoptic assessment at their preoperative visit and again 3 months postoperatively. Clinical outcomes of surgery were classified as success, partial success or failure, using the largest angle of deviation, diplopia and requirement for further therapy.Results210 participants took part in the study. Strabismus surgery led to statistically significant improvements in psychosocial and functional quality of life. Those whose surgery was deemed a partial success did however experience a deterioration in quality of life. A combination of clinical variables, high expectations, and negative beliefs about the illness and appearance pre-surgery were significant predictors of change in quality of life from pre- to post-surgery.ConclusionsStrabismus surgery leads to significant improvements in quality of life up to 6 months postoperatively. There are however a group of patients who do not experience these benefits. A series of clinical and psychosocial factors have now been identified, which will enable clinicians to identify patients who may be vulnerable to poorer outcomes post-surgery and allow for the development of interventions to improve quality of life after surgery.

Quality improvement through multiple response optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noorossana, R.; Alemzad, H.

2003-01-01

The performance of a product is often evaluated by several quality characteristics. Optimizing the manufacturing process with respect to only one quality characteristic will not always lead to the optimum values for other characteristics. Hence, it would be desirable to improve the overall quality of a product by improving quality characteristics, which are considered to be important. The problem consists of optimizing several responses using multiple objective decision making approach and design of experiments. A case study will be discussed to show the application of the proposal method

Power theories for improved power quality

CERN Document Server

Pasko, Marian

2012-01-01

Power quality describes a set of parameters of electric power and the load’s ability to function properly under specific conditions. It is estimated that problems relating to power quality costs the European industry hundreds of billions of Euros annually. In contrast, financing for the prevention of these problems amount to fragments of these costs. Power Theories for Improved Power Quality addresses this imbalance by presenting and assessing a range of methods and problems related to improving the quality of electric power supply. Focusing particularly on active compensators and the DSP based control algorithms, Power Theories for Improved Power Quality introduces the fundamental problems of electrical power. This introduction is followed by chapters which discuss: •‘Power theories’ including their historical development and application to practical problems, •operational principles of active compensator’s DSP control based algorithms using examples and results from laboratory research, and •t...

Incorporation of Scribes Into the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic Improves Quality of Care and Physician Productivity.

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Ewelukwa, Ofor; Perez, Roque; Carter, Lee Ellen; Fernandez, Alyka; Glover, Sarah

2018-02-15

Electronic health records (EHRs), despite their positive attributes, increase physician workload and decrease efficiency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of scribes in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic on improvement of the physician-patient relationship, physician productivity, clinical efficiency, and achievement of some Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) metrics. We analyzed of pre- and postscribe data between fiscal years 2015 (FY15) and 2016 (FY16) using data from patients at the Inflammatory Bowel Clinic at the University of Florida. The main outcomes were patient satisfaction scores (PSS), qualitative physician interview, clinic appointment lengths, work relative value units (wRVUs), level of coding, revenue, and PQRS data on bone density screening and vaccination. PSS increased from 6.8/10 to 9.2/10 (P stress decreased. Clinic visits increased by 76, leading to an increase in work RVUs by 332.55, total charges billed by $71,439, and total charges collected by $27,387 between the first quarters of FY15 and FY16. The extra revenue for the first quarter was 536% higher than the salary of the scribe for the same period ($4302.84). There was a 1.8-fold increase in referrals for bone density scans and 2.9-fold and 4.8-fold increases in vaccination rates for influenza and pneumonia, respectively. The use of scribes improved the physician-patient relationship, clinical efficiency, physician productivity, bone density screening, and vaccinations for flu and pneumonia. If adopted by health systems, it may lead to significant cost savings and improved clinical outcomes.

A summary of deliberations on strategic planning for continuous quality improvement in laboratory medicine.

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Grzybicki, Dana Marie; Shahangian, Shahram; Pollock, Anne M; Raab, Stephen S

2009-03-01

On September 24-26, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened the 2007 Institute on Critical Issues in Health Laboratory Practice: Managing for Better Health to develop an action plan for change for the immediate and long-term future. A wide variety of stakeholders, including pathologists, pathologist extenders, clinicians, and researchers, examined means to improve laboratory service communication, quality parameters, and potential future laboratory contributions to health care. In this summary document, we present the identified gaps, barriers, and proposed action plans for improvement for laboratory medicine in the 6 quality domains identified by the Institute of Medicine: safety, effectiveness, patient centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity. Five major recommendations emerged from concluding discussions and included focusing on preanalytic and postanalytic processes as areas of potential quality improvement and recruiting a multidisciplinary group of nonlaboratory stakeholders to work with laboratory personnel to achieve improvement goals.

Can a Self-Management Education Program for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Improve Quality of Life ?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manon Labrecque

2011-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of a self-management program on health-related quality of life (HRQoL and morbidity commonly associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD.

Effects of Ai Chi on balance, quality of life, functional mobility, and motor impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease.

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Kurt, Emine Eda; Büyükturan, Buket; Büyükturan, Öznur; Erdem, Hatice Rana; Tuncay, Figen

2018-04-01

In this study, we aimed to investigate effects of Ai Chi on balance, functional mobility, health-related quality of life, and motor impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease. This study was conducted as an open-label randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN26292510) with repeated measures. Forty patients with Parkinson's disease stages 2 to 3 according to the Hoehn and Yahr Scale were randomly allocated to either an Ai Chi exercise group or a land-based exercise control group for 5 weeks. Balance was measured using the Biodex-3,1 and the Berg Balance Scale. Functional mobility was evaluated using the Timed Up and Go Test. Additionally, health-related quality of life and motor activity were assessed with the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-III. Although patients in both groups showed significant improvement in all outcome variables, improvement of dynamic balance was significantly greater in the Ai Chi group (p Balance Scale (p balance, mobility, motor ability, and quality of life. In addition, Ai Chi exercise was more effective as an intervention than land-based exercise in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. Implications for rehabilitation Ai Chi exercises (aquatic exercises) may help improve balance, functional mobility, health-related quality of life, and motor ability in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease more efficiently than similar land-based exercises. Ai Chi exercises should be considered as a rehabilitation option for treatment of patients with mild or moderate Parkinson's disease.

Education in Quality Improvement for Pediatric Practice: an online program to teach clinicians QI.

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Bundy, David G; Morawski, Lori F; Lazorick, Suzanne; Bradbury, Scott; Kamachi, Karen; Suresh, Gautham K

2014-01-01

Education in Quality Improvement for Pediatric Practice (EQIPP) is an online program designed to improve evidence-based care delivery by teaching front-line clinicians quality improvement (QI) skills. Our objective was to evaluate EQIPP data to characterize 1) participant enrollment, use patterns, and demographics; 2) changes in performance in clinical QI measures from baseline to follow-up measurement; and 3) participant experience. We conducted an observational study of EQIPP participants utilizing 1 of 3 modules (asthma, immunizations, gastroesophageal reflux disease) from 2009 to 2013. Enrollment and use, demographic, and quality measure data were extracted directly from the EQIPP system; participant experience was assessed via an optional online survey. Study participants (n = 3501) were diverse in their gender, age, and race; most were board certified. Significant quality gaps were observed across many of the quality measures at baseline; sizable improvements were observed across most quality measures at follow-up. Participants were generally satisfied with their experience. The most influential module elements were collecting and analyzing data, creating and implementing aim statements and improvement plans, and completing "QI Basics." Online educational programs, such as EQIPP, hold promise for front-line clinicians to learn QI. The sustainability of the observed improvements in care processes and their linkage to improvements in health outcomes are unknown and are an essential topic for future study. Copyright © 2014 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preanalytical quality improvement : in quality we trust

OpenAIRE

Lippi, Giuseppe; Becan-McBride, Kathleen; Behulova, Darina; Bowen, Raffick A.; Church, Stephen; Delanghe, Joris; Grankvist, Kjell; Kitchen, Steve; Nybo, Mads; Nauck, Matthias; Nikolac, Nora; Palicka, Vladimir; Plebani, Mario; Sandberg, Sverre; Simundic, Ana-Maria

2013-01-01

Total quality in laboratory medicine should be defined as the guarantee that each activity throughout the total testing process is correctly performed, providing valuable medical decision-making and effective patient care. In the past decades, a 10-fold reduction in the analytical error rate has been achieved thanks to improvements in both reliability and standardization of analytical techniques, reagents, and instrumentation. Notable advances in information technology, quality control and qu...

Insomnia, Sleep Quality, and Quality of Life in Mild to Moderate Parkinson's Disease.

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Shafazand, Shirin; Wallace, Douglas M; Arheart, Kristopher L; Vargas, Silvia; Luca, Corneliu C; Moore, Henry; Katzen, Heather; Levin, Bonnie; Singer, Carlos

2017-03-01

Sleep disorders are prevalent in Parkinson's disease but underreported in clinical settings. The contribution of sleep disorders to health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for patients with this degenerative neurological disease are not well known. To evaluate the impact of insomnia symptoms, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and poor sleep quality on HRQOL in a cohort of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. We enrolled a convenience sample of 66 adults seen in the University of Miami Movement Disorders Clinic between July 2011 and June 2013. Participants completed validated questionnaires to determine insomnia symptoms, OSA risk, depression, anxiety, and HRQOL. All patients underwent unattended polysomnography to confirm OSA. Results were compared for those with and without insomnia symptoms. Principal component and regression analyses were performed to evaluate determinants of HRQOL. Participants were predominately Hispanic males with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. Insomnia symptoms were reported for 46% of the study subjects. OSA (apnea-hypopnea index, ≥5) was noted in 47%, with a mean apnea-hypopnea index of 8.3 ± 11.0. Fairly bad to very bad sleep quality was reported by 21% of the participants. Insomnia (r = 0.71; P Insomnia symptoms, OSA, and subsequent poor sleep quality are prevalent in Parkinson's disease. In this single-center, exploratory study, we found that insomnia and poor sleep quality, but not OSA, play important roles in determining overall quality of life for patients with this disease. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02034357).

Quality improvement in pediatrics: past, present, and future.

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Schwartz, Stephanie P; Rehder, Kyle J

2017-01-01

Almost two decades ago, the landmark report "To Err is Human" compelled healthcare to address the large numbers of hospitalized patients experiencing preventable harm. Concurrently, it became clear that the rapidly rising cost of healthcare would be unsustainable in the long-term. As a result, quality improvement methodologies initially rooted in other high-reliability industries have become a primary focus of healthcare. Multiple pediatric studies demonstrate remarkable quality and safety improvements in several domains including handoffs, catheter-associated blood stream infections, and other serious safety events. While both quality improvement and research are data-driven processes, significant differences exist between the two. Research utilizes a hypothesis driven approach to obtain new knowledge while quality improvement often incorporates a cyclic approach to translate existing knowledge into clinical practice. Recent publications have provided guidelines and methods for effectively reporting quality and safety work and improvement implementations. This review examines not only how quality improvement in pediatrics has led to improved outcomes, but also looks to the future of quality improvement in healthcare with focus on education and collaboration to ensure best practice approaches to caring for children.

Report from the Rockefellar Foundation Sponsored International Workshop on reducing mortality and improving quality of life in long-term survivors of Hodgkin's disease: July 9-16, 2003, Bellagio, Italy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mauch, Peter; Ng, Andrea; Aleman, Berthe

2005-01-01

A workshop, sponsored by the Rockefellar Foundation, was held between 9 to 16 July, 2003 to devise strategies to reduce mortality and improve quality of life of long-term survivors of Hodgkin's disease. Participants were selected for their clinical and research background on late effects after Ho...

Educational interventions to improve quality of life in people with chronic inflammatory skin diseases: systematic reviews of clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

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Pickett, Karen; Loveman, Emma; Kalita, Neelam; Frampton, Geoff K; Jones, Jeremy

2015-10-01

Inflammatory skin diseases include a broad range of disorders. For some people, these conditions lead to psychological comorbidities and reduced quality of life (QoL). Patient education is recommended in the management of these conditions and may improve QoL. To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of educational interventions to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with chronic inflammatory skin diseases. Twelve electronic bibliographic databases, including The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and EMBASE, were searched to July 2014. Bibliographies of retrieved papers were searched and an Advisory Group contacted. Systematic reviews were conducted following standard methodologies. Clinical effectiveness studies were included if they were undertaken in people with a chronic inflammatory skin condition. Educational interventions that aimed to, or could, improve HRQoL were eligible. Studies were required to measure HRQoL, and other outcomes such as disease severity were also included. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or controlled clinical trials were eligible. For the review of cost-effectiveness, studies were eligible if they were full economic evaluations, cost-consequence or cost analyses. Seven RCTs were included in the review of clinical effectiveness. Two RCTs focused on children with eczema and their carers. Five RCTs were in adults. Of these, two were of people with psoriasis, one was of people with acne and two were of people with a range of conditions. There were few similarities in the interventions (e.g. the delivery mode, the topics covered, the duration of the education), which precluded any quantitative synthesis. Follow-up ranged from 4 weeks to 12 months, samples sizes were generally small and, overall, the study quality was poor. There appeared to be positive effects on HRQoL in participants with psoriasis in one trial, but no difference between groups in another trial in which participants had less severe

Evaluating the quality of life in children with gastroesophagel reflux disease

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I.M. Nesinа

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background. The purpose of the study was the assessment of the quality of life in adolescents with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD during the treatment. Materials and methods. 49 children aged 13–17 years with gastroesophageal reflux disease were examined. The comparison group consisted of 40 apparently healthy children of the same age. The effectiveness of therapy was evaluated during the treatment and in catamnesis, three months later. Quality of life was assessed using the PedsQL 4.0 inventory adapted for children aged 13 to 18 years, and GSRS — a specialized questionnaire for patients with digestive system diseases. Results. It was found that during the exacerbation of GERD, PedsQL 4.0 scores for all scales of the quality of life, especially psychophysiological features in children, reduced significantly by parent’s estimations. According to the GSRS questionnaire, a positive clinical effect was observed after the treatment, but the analysis of the PedsQL 4.0 inventory scales showed that the rates remained significantly lower compared to the control group. Only after 3 months, there was a positive trend toward increasing the number of points according to all the criteria of the PedsQL 4.0 inventory, which described improvements in the quality of teenager’s lives. Conclusions. The study of the quality of life parameters in the period of GERD clinical remission is a necessary component of treatment and the main criterion for assessing the state in adolescents. It allow to determine the clinical effectiveness and time of the main course of therapy, as well as to predict further course of the disease.

Chronic kidney-disease screening service quality: questionnaire survey research evidence from Taichung city

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Glen Robert

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD is a serious public health problem in Taiwan and the world. The most effective, affordable treatments involve early prevention/detection/intervention, requiring screening. Successfully implementing CKD programs requires good patient participation, affected by patient perceptions of screening service quality. Service quality improvements can help make such programs more successful. Thus, good tools for assessing service quality perceptions are important. Aim: to investigate using a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire in assessing patient expectations, perceptions, and loyalty towards kidney disease screening service quality. Method 1595 kidney disease screening program patients in Taichung City were requested to complete and return a modified kidney disease screening SERVQUAL questionnaire. 1187 returned them. Incomplete ones (102 were culled and 1085 were chosen as effective for use. Paired t-tests, correlation tests, ANOVA, LSD test, and factor analysis identified the characteristics and factors of service quality. The paired t-test tested expectation score and perception score gaps. A structural equation modeling system examined satisfaction-based components' relationships. Results The effective response rate was 91.4%. Several methods verified validity. Cronbach's alpha on internal reliability was above 0.902. On patient satisfaction, expectation scores are high: 6.50 (0.82, but perception scores are significantly lower 6.14 (1.02. Older patients' perception scores are lower than younger patients'. Expectation and perception scores for patients with different types of jobs are significantly different. Patients higher on education have lower scores for expectation (r = -0.09 and perception (r = -0.26. Factor analysis identified three factors in the 22 item SERVQUAL form, which account for 80.8% of the total variance for the expectation scores and 86.9% of the total variance for the satisfaction

Chronic kidney-disease screening service quality: questionnaire survey research evidence from Taichung City.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Deng-Juin; Li, Ya-Hsin; Pai, Jar-Yuan; Sheu, Ing-Cheau; Glen, Robert; Chou, Ming-Jen; Lee, Ching-Yi

2009-12-19

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious public health problem in Taiwan and the world. The most effective, affordable treatments involve early prevention/detection/intervention, requiring screening. Successfully implementing CKD programs requires good patient participation, affected by patient perceptions of screening service quality. Service quality improvements can help make such programs more successful. Thus, good tools for assessing service quality perceptions are important. to investigate using a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire in assessing patient expectations, perceptions, and loyalty towards kidney disease screening service quality. 1595 kidney disease screening program patients in Taichung City were requested to complete and return a modified kidney disease screening SERVQUAL questionnaire. 1187 returned them. Incomplete ones (102) were culled and 1085 were chosen as effective for use. Paired t-tests, correlation tests, ANOVA, LSD test, and factor analysis identified the characteristics and factors of service quality. The paired t-test tested expectation score and perception score gaps. A structural equation modeling system examined satisfaction-based components' relationships. The effective response rate was 91.4%. Several methods verified validity. Cronbach's alpha on internal reliability was above 0.902. On patient satisfaction, expectation scores are high: 6.50 (0.82), but perception scores are significantly lower 6.14 (1.02). Older patients' perception scores are lower than younger patients'. Expectation and perception scores for patients with different types of jobs are significantly different. Patients higher on education have lower scores for expectation (r = -0.09) and perception (r = -0.26). Factor analysis identified three factors in the 22 item SERVQUAL form, which account for 80.8% of the total variance for the expectation scores and 86.9% of the total variance for the satisfaction scores. Expectation and perception score gaps in all 22

Quality improvement activity for improving pain management in acute extremity injuries in the emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Hyung Lan; Jung, Jin Hee; Kwak, Young Ho; Kim, Do Kyun; Lee, Jin Hee; Jung, Jae Yun; Kwon, Hyuksool; Paek, So Hyun; Park, Joong Wan; Shin, Jonghwan

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a quality improvement activity for pain management in patients with extremity injury in the emergency department (ED). This was a retrospective interventional study. The patient group consisted of those at least 19 years of age who visited the ED and were diagnosed with International Classification of Diseases codes S40-S99 (extremity injuries). The quality improvement activity consisted of three measures: a survey regarding activities, education, and the triage nurse's pain assessment, including change of pain documentation on electronic medical records. The intervention was conducted from January to April in 2014 and outcome was compared between May and August in 2013 and 2014. The primary outcome was the rate of analgesic prescription, and the secondary outcome was the time to analgesic prescription. A total of 1,739 patients were included, and 20.3% of 867 patients in the pre-intervention period, and 28.8% of 872 patients in the post-intervention period received analgesics (P< 0.001). The prescription rate of analgesics for moderate-to-severe injuries was 36.4% in 2013 and 44.5% in 2014 (P=0.026). The time to analgesics prescription was 116.6 minutes (standard deviation 225.6) in 2013 and 64 minutes (standard deviation 75.5) in 2014 for all extremity injuries. The pain scoring increased from 1.4% to 51.6%. ED-based quality improvement activities including education and change of pain score documentation can improve the rate of analgesic prescription and time to prescription for patients with extremity injury in the ED.

The effectiveness of a structured educational intervention on disease-related misconception and quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

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Yu, Wen-Zhen; Ouyang, Yan-Qiong; Zhang, Qian; Li, Kong-Ling; Chen, Ji-Hong

2014-01-01

A significant number of patients with irritable bowel syndrome hold misconceptions about their disease and experience more impaired quality of life compared with the general population and people suffering from other chronic diseases. This study was designed to explore the effectiveness of a structured educational intervention on disease-related misconceptions and quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Wuhan, China. A convenience sample of 23 patients with irritable bowel syndrome participated in an educational program that consisted of 4 weekly sessions in a group setting. Instruments, including an irritable bowel syndrome-related misconception scale and irritable bowel syndrome quality-of-life scale, were used for evaluation at baseline and 3 months after the sessions. Three months after the structured educational intervention, the score for irritable bowel syndrome-related misconception was significantly decreased (p quality of life was significantly improved (p educational intervention seems to be a proper method to reduce the disease-related misconceptions and improve the quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Planning and implementing such clinical education programs will be helpful in decreasing disease-related misconceptions and promoting quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Integration of quality improvement and cost-efficiency through industrial improvement techniques

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Vink JP

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Jasper P Vink,1 Maxime T Rigaudy,1,2 Karl O Elmqvist11Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London, London, 2Hull York Medical School, York, UKIn this journal, Crema and Verbano1 discussed the importance of defining quality of health care and how quality can be improved through various industrial instruments and techniques. Quality of health care is a heavily debated topic that requires a wide scope of considerations across the many stakeholders of the health system. We acknowledge Crema and Verbano’s arguments that patient safety is a basic pillar of quality, upon which we would like to expand by highlighting the clinical effectiveness and patient-reported outcomes, which are the two further crucial components of quality. The arguments made regarding quality improvement techniques and cost efficiency in health care provision are insightful, yet appear to make a distinction between efforts to improve quality, eliminate waste from processes, and cut costs in health care provision. We would argue that in fact these achievements are all closely related and can be achieved simultaneously, if the industrial techniques of quality management are applied adequately.View the original paper by Crema and Verbano.

Improving and monitoring air quality.

Science.gov (United States)

DuPont, André

2018-05-01

Since the authorization of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the air quality in the USA has significantly improved because of strong public support. The lessons learned over the last 25 years are being shared with the policy analysts, technical professionals, and scientist who endeavor to improve air quality in their communities. This paper will review how the USA has achieved the "high" standard of air quality that was envisioned in the early 1990s. This document will describe SO 2 gas emission reduction technology and highlight operation of emission monitoring technology. This paper describes the basic process operation of an air pollution control scrubber. A technical review of measures required to operate and maintain a large-scale pollution control system will be described. Also, the author explains how quality assurance procedures in performance of continuous emission monitoring plays a significant role in reducing air pollution.

[QUIPS: quality improvement in postoperative pain management].

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Meissner, Winfried

2011-01-01

Despite the availability of high-quality guidelines and advanced pain management techniques acute postoperative pain management is still far from being satisfactory. The QUIPS (Quality Improvement in Postoperative Pain Management) project aims to improve treatment quality by means of standardised data acquisition, analysis of quality and process indicators, and feedback and benchmarking. During a pilot phase funded by the German Ministry of Health (BMG), a total of 12,389 data sets were collected from six participating hospitals. Outcome improved in four of the six hospitals. Process indicators, such as routine pain documentation, were only poorly correlated with outcomes. To date, more than 130 German hospitals use QUIPS as a routine quality management tool. An EC-funded parallel project disseminates the concept internationally. QUIPS demonstrates that patient-reported outcomes in postoperative pain management can be benchmarked in routine clinical practice. Quality improvement initiatives should use outcome instead of structural and process parameters. The concept is transferable to other fields of medicine. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

E-health: Web-guided therapy and disease self-management in ulcerative colitis. Impact on disease outcome, quality of life and compliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Elkjaer, Margarita

2012-07-01

Ulcerative Colitis (UC) together with Crohn's disease (CD) belongs to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). IBD is to date as frequent as Insulin Dependent Diabetes (IDDM) and is second to Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in its chronicity. The majority (91%) of patients with UC have a mild to moderate disease course eligible for 5-ASA treatment. Poor adherence in UC is a well known phenomenon, which is associated with a 5-fold increased risk of relapse and increased health care costs. Web-based treatment solution with self-initiated 5-ASA treatment in UC based on the patient's pattern recognition of the disease course had not been published previously. The aims of the thesis were: 1) In a European evidence based consensus to assess the IBD patients' need for Quality of Health Care (QoHC); 2) To validate the influence of a Patient Educational Center (PEC) and a web-based treatment solution program, www.constant-care.dk, on patients' disease self-management, adherence, Quality of Life, and disease course after 1 year of self-initiated 5-ASA treatment. UC patients in a conventional out-patient setting were used as controls; 3) To validate two new quantitative rapid tests (RT scanning and HT photo) for Faecal Calprotectin (FC) measurement, and to assess whether HT photo can be useful as a home test to help the patients deciding on self-initiated treatment. The ECCO Consensus found evidence for optimising QoHC by "information"; "education", "benchmarking", and "psychological analysis", which could help to improve patient compliance, QoL, and to decrease depression and anxiety. UC patients, educated in the PEC, significantly improved the level of disease specific knowledge. Patient education and training on www.constant-care.dk, being validated on first 21 Danish patients and subsequently on 233 Danish and 100 Irish patients, showed that the new web guided approach was feasible, safe, and cost effective for the selected group of the patients included in the trial. Use of the web

American College of Cardiology (ACC’s PINNACLE India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP—Inception, progress and future direction: A report from the PIQIP Investigators

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Ankur Kalra

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Cardiovascular diseases have surpassed infectious disorders to become the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India.1 A national-level registry comprehensively documenting the current-day prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and disease burden among patients seeking care in the outpatient setting in India is currently non-existent. With a burgeoning urban population, the cardiovascular disease burden in India is set to skyrocket, with an estimated 18 million productive years of life lost by 2030.2 While there are limited quality improvement registries in India, for example, the Kerala acute coronary syndrome and Trivandrum heart failure registries, their focus is on in-patient care quality improvement, while the vast majority of patients with cardiovascular diseases worldwide, including India, interact with the health care system in the outpatient setting.3,4 Recognizing this unmet need, the American College of Cardiology partnered with local stakeholders in India to establish India's first outpatient cardiovascular disease performance measurement initiative in 2011, the PINNACLE (Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence India Quality Improvement Program (PIQIP.5 This manuscript discusses the inception of the PIQIP registry, the progress it has made and challenges thus far, and its future direction and the promise it holds for cardiovascular care quality improvement in India.

A story of success: continuous quality improvement in cystic fibrosis care in the USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Quon, Bradley S; Goss, Christopher H

2011-12-01

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) in healthcare can be described as a reiterative approach to improving processes to reduce unexpected variation in health outcomes. CQI represents one model to achieve quality improvement (QI) and has long been recognized as a key to success in the manufacturing industry with companies like Toyota leading the way. Healthcare, and specifically pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine represent ideal settings for the application of CQI. This opinion piece will describe QI and CQI initiatives in the US Cystic fibrosis (CF) population. QI in CF care in the United States has been ongoing since inception of the US CF Foundation (CFF) in 1955. This effort has included work to improve the quality of clinical care provided at CF centers and work to improve clinical outcomes in CF. More recently, QI methods have been applied to the conduct of clinical research. The CF community has become a leader in the area of QI and has pointed out the opportunities for others to follow in the area of lung diseases.

Application of quality-improvement methods in a community practice: the Sandhills Pediatrics Asthma Initiative.

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Wroth, Thomas H; Boals, Joseph C

2005-01-01

This case study demonstrates the use of quality improvement methods to improve asthma care in a busy community practice. The practice used disease-management strategies, such as population identification, self-management education, and performance measurement and feedback. The practice then applied several practice-based quality improvement methods, such as PDSA cycles, to improve care. From 1998 to 2003, process measures, such as staging of asthmatics, use of long-term control medications, use of peak flow meters and spacers, and use of action plans, improved. There was also a substantial decrease in emergency department use and hospitalizations among patients with asthma. Although there have been several studies demonstrating the efficacy of disease management strategies, most lack generalizability to community practices. Often, interventions are so intensive and cumbersome, that they are unlikely to be replicated in primary care setting. Researchers have been unable to determine which components of the interventions are most effective and replicable. Furthermore, many studies of disease management strategies enroll participants who lack the co-morbidities seen in community practice. There are also few studies of disadvantaged populations that face other barriers to care, such as lack of transportation, poor access to specialists, and medical illiteracy. In this case study, there were several unique factors that enabled the practice to improve care for this population. The AccessCare case manager who worked with the practice not only provided data and feedback to the practice team, but also served as an improvement "coach," often pushing the team and facilitating many of the improvement efforts. AccessCare's approach is in contrast to many of the commercial disease management companies' "carve out" models that do not sufficiently involve providers or practices in their interventions. The other necessary ingredient for success in this project was organizational

German Bowel Cancer Center: An Attempt to Improve Treatment Quality

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Olof Jannasch

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Colorectal cancer remains the second most common cause of death from malignancies, but treatment results show high diversity. Certified bowel cancer centres (BCC are the basis of a German project for improvement of treatment. The aim of this study was to analyze if certification would enhance short-term outcome in rectal cancer surgery. Material and Methods. This quality assurance study included 8197 patients with rectal cancer treated between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2010. We compared cohorts treated in certified and noncertified hospitals regarding preoperative variables and perioperative outcomes. Outcomes were verified by matched-pair analysis. Results. Patients of noncertified hospitals had higher ASA-scores, higher prevalence of risk factors, more distant metastases, lower tumour localization, lower frequency of pelvic MRI, and higher frequencies of missing values and undetermined TNM classifications (significant differences only. Outcome analysis revealed more general complications in certified hospitals (20.3% versus 17.4%, p=0.03. Both cohorts did not differ significantly in percentage of R0-resections, intraoperative complications, anastomotic leakage, in-hospital death, and abdominal wall dehiscence. Conclusions. The concept of BCC is a step towards improving the structural and procedural quality. This is a good basis for improving outcome quality but cannot replace it. For a primary surgical disease like rectal cancer a specific, surgery-targeted program is still needed.

Quality-of-life outcomes in Graves disease patients after total thyroidectomy.

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Kus, Lukas H; Hopman, Wilma M; Witterick, Ian J; Freeman, Jeremy L

2017-01-01

Historically, research into surgical treatment of Graves disease has assessed subtotal rather than total thyroidectomy. Most clinicians now recommend total thyroidectomy, but little information is available regarding quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes for this procedure. Our aim was to assess QOL after total thyroidectomy. This is a retrospective, pilot study of patients with Graves disease who underwent total thyroidectomy from 1991 to 2007 at a high-volume tertiary referral center in Toronto, Canada. Questionnaires addressing disease-specific symptoms and global QOL concerns were sent to 54 patients. Analyses included parametric and nonparametric tests to assess the differences between perception of symptoms and global QOL before and after surgery. Forty patients responded (response rate: 74%) at a median of 4.8 years postoperatively. On a 10-point scale, overall wellness improved from 4.1 preoperatively to 8.7 postoperatively (p total thyroidectomy. Patients experienced marked and rapid improvement in QOL postoperatively. These findings suggest that total thyroidectomy is a safe and effective treatment.

42 CFR 441.474 - Quality assurance and improvement plan.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Quality assurance and improvement plan. 441.474... improvement plan. (a) The State must provide a quality assurance and improvement plan that describes the State... pursue opportunities for system improvement. (b) The quality assurance and improvement plan shall also...

Fluoxetine for Maintenance of Remission and to Improve Quality of Life in Patients with Crohn's Disease: a Pilot Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

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Mikocka-Walus, Antonina; Hughes, Patrick A; Bampton, Peter; Gordon, Andrea; Campaniello, Melissa A; Mavrangelos, Chris; Stewart, Benjamin J; Esterman, Adrian; Andrews, Jane M

2017-04-01

Previous studies have shown that antidepressants reduce inflammation in animal models of colitis. The present trial aimed to examine whether fluoxetine added to standard therapy for Crohn's disease [CD] maintained remission, improved quality of life [QoL] and/or mental health in people with CD as compared to placebo. A parallel randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial was conducted. Participants with clinically established CD, with quiescent or only mild disease, were randomly assigned to receive either fluoxetine 20 mg daily or placebo, and followed for 12 months. Participants provided blood and stool samples and completed mental health and QoL questionnaires. Immune functions were assessed by stimulated cytokine secretion [CD3/CD28 stimulation] and flow cytometry for cell type. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare groups. Of the 26 participants, 14 were randomized to receive fluoxetine and 12 to placebo. Overall, 14 [54%] participants were male. The mean age was 37.4 [SD=13.2] years. Fluoxetine had no effect on inflammatory bowel disease activity measured using either the Crohn's Disease Activity Index [F(3, 27.5)=0.064, p=0.978] or faecal calprotectin [F(3, 32.5)=1.08, p=0.371], but did have modest effects on immune function. There was no effect of fluoxetine on physical, psychological, social or environmental QoL, anxiety or depressive symptoms as compared to placebo [all p>0.05]. In this small pilot clinical trial, fluoxetine was not superior to placebo in maintaining remission or improving QoL. [ID: ACTRN12612001067864.]. © European Crohn’s and Colitis Organistion (ECCO) 2016.

Assessing the impact of continuous quality improvement/total quality management: concept versus implementation.

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Shortell, S M; O'Brien, J L; Carman, J M; Foster, R W; Hughes, E F; Boerstler, H; O'Connor, E J

1995-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationships among organizational culture, quality improvement processes and selected outcomes for a sample of up to 61 U. S. hospitals. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: Primary data were collected from 61 U. S. hospitals (located primarily in the midwest and the west) on measures related to continuous quality improvement/total quality management (CQI/TQM), organizational culture, implementation approaches, and degree of quality improvement implementation based on the Baldrige Award criteria. These data were combined with independently collected data on perceived impact and objective measures of clinical efficiency (i.e., charges and length of stay) for six clinical conditions. STUDY DESIGN: The study involved cross-sectional examination of the named relationships. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Reliable and valid scales for the organizational culture and quality improvement implementation measures were developed based on responses from over 7,000 individuals across the 61 hospitals with an overall completion rate of 72 percent. Independent data on perceived impact were collected from a national survey and independent data on clinical efficiency from a companion study of managed care. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A participative, flexible, risk-taking organizational culture was significantly related to quality improvement implementation. Quality improvement implementation, in turn, was positively associated with greater perceived patient outcomes and human resource development. Larger-size hospitals experienced lower clinical efficiency with regard to higher charges and higher length of stay, due in part to having more bureaucratic and hierarchical cultures that serve as a barrier to quality improvement implementation. CONCLUSIONS: What really matters is whether or not a hospital has a culture that supports quality improvement work and an approach that encourages flexible implementation. Larger-size hospitals face more difficult

Quality of Diabetes Care in Germany Improved from 2000 to 2007 to 2014, but Improvements Diminished since 2007. Evidence from the Population-Based KORA Studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Laxy

Full Text Available Little is known about the development of the quality of diabetes care in Germany. The aim of this study is to analyze time trends in patient self-management, physician-delivered care, medication, risk factor control, complications and quality of life from 2000 to 2014.Analyses are based on data from individuals with type 2 diabetes of the population-based KORA S4 (1999-2001, n = 150, F4 (2006-2008, n = 203, FF4 (2013/14, n = 212 cohort study. Information on patient self-management, physician-delivered care, medication, risk factor control and quality of life were assessed in standardized questionnaires and examinations. The 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD risk was calculated using the UKPDS risk engine. Time trends were analyzed using multivariable linear and logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, diabetes duration, and history of cardiovascular disease.From 2000 to 2014 the proportion of participants with type 2 diabetes receiving oral antidiabetic/cardio-protective medication and of those reaching treatment goals for glycemic control (HbA1c<7%, 60% to 71%, p = 0.09, blood pressure (<140/80 mmHg, 25% to 69%, p<0.001 and LDL cholesterol (<2.6 mmol/l, 13% to 27%, p<0.001 increased significantly. However, improvements were generally smaller from 2007 to 2014 than from 2000 to 2007. Modeled 10-year CHD risk decreased from 30% in 2000 to 24% in 2007 to 19% in 2014 (p<0.01. From 2007 to 2014, the prevalence of microvascular complications decreased and quality of life increased, but no improvements were observed for the majority of indicators of self-management.Despite improvements, medication and risk factor control has remained suboptimal. The flattening of improvements and deteriorations in quality of (self- care since 2007 indicate that more effort is needed to improve quality of care and patient self-management. Due to selection or lead time bias an overestimation of quality of care improvements cannot be ruled out.

Self-reported Improvement in Side Effects and Quality of Life With Integrative Medicine in Breast Cancer Patients.

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Hack, Carolin C; Hackl, Janina; Hüttner, Nina B M; Langemann, Hanna; Schwitulla, Judith; Dietzel-Drentwett, Svenja; Fasching, Peter A; Beckmann, Matthias W; Theuser, Anna-Katharin

2018-05-01

Although the demand from patients for integrative medicine is increasing, complementary medicine services are still quite heterogeneous and have not been incorporated into clinical routine. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate improvements in side effects and quality of life associated with a hospital-based integrative medicine program in the modern breast cancer patient care setting. In a cross-sectional study, integrative health counseling and treatment were evaluated in women with breast cancer. Over a 15-month period, data for 75 patients from an integrative medicine consultancy service with standardized operating procedures were collected at the University Breast Center for Franconia. At baseline, the patients answered a questionnaire on their medical history, symptoms, and the treatment goals they were hoping to achieve with integrative medicine. In the follow-up, patient-reported outcomes related to side effects of conventional cancer treatment and patients' quality of life were analyzed. Among 60 patients with the therapy goal of reducing the side effects of conventional treatment, 46 (76.7%) were successful. Among 57 patients hoping to improve disease-related quality of life, 46 (82%) reported success. Whereas patients with metastatic disease achieved a reduction in the side effects of conventional therapy, quality-of-life improvements were predominantly achieved by patients with a good treatment prognosis. Breast cancer patients benefit from the counseling and treatment provided with integrative medicine in all phases of tumor disease. Integrative treatment services should be included as part of patient care in clinical routine work to offer patients the maximum quality of care and safety with complementary therapies.

Can Quality Improvement System Improve Childcare Site Performance in School Readiness?

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Ma, Xin; Shen, Jianping; Lu, Xuejin; Brandi, Karen; Goodman, Jeff; Watson, Grace

2013-01-01

The authors evaluated the effectiveness of the Quality Improvement System (QIS) developed and implemented by Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County (Florida) as a voluntary initiative to improve the quality of childcare and education. They adopted a growth model approach to investigate whether childcare sites that participated in QIS…

Improving Indoor Air Quality

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Usually the most effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate individual sources of pollution or to reduce their emissions. Some sources, like those that contain asbestos, can be sealed or enclosed.

Quality improvement in neurology: dementia management quality measures.

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Odenheimer, Germaine; Borson, Soo; Sanders, Amy E; Swain-Eng, Rebecca J; Kyomen, Helen H; Tierney, Samantha; Gitlin, Laura; Forciea, Mary Ann; Absher, John; Shega, Joseph; Johnson, Jerry

2014-03-01

Professional and advocacy organizations have long urged that dementia should be recognized and properly diagnosed. With the passage of the National Alzheimer's Project Act in 2011, an Advisory Council for Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services was convened to advise the Department of Health and Human Services. In May 2012, the Council produced the first National Plan to address Alzheimer's disease, and prominent in its recommendations is a call for quality measures suitable for evaluating and tracking dementia care in clinical settings. Although other efforts have been made to set dementia care quality standards, such as those pioneered by RAND in its series Assessing Care of Vulnerable Elders (ACOVE), practitioners, healthcare systems, and insurers have not widely embraced implementation. This executive summary (full manuscript available at www.neurology.org) reports on a new measurement set for dementia management developed by an interdisciplinary Dementia Measures Work Group (DWG) representing the major national organizations and advocacy organizations concerned with the care of individuals with dementia. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the American Geriatrics Society, the American Medical Directors Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement led this effort. The ACOVE measures and the measurement set described here apply to individuals whose dementia has already been identified and properly diagnosed. Although similar in concept to ACOVE, the DWG measurement set differs in several important ways; it includes all stages of dementia in a single measure set, calls for the use of functional staging in planning care, prompts the use of validated instruments in patient and caregiver assessment and intervention, highlights the relevance of using palliative care concepts to guide care before the advanced stages of illness, and provides evidence-based support

Quality of care in patients with psoriasis: an initial clinical study of an international disease management programme.

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de Korte, J; Van Onselen, J; Kownacki, S; Sprangers, M A G; Bos, J D

2005-01-01

Patients with psoriasis have to cope with their disease for many years or even throughout their entire life. To provide optimal care, a disease management programme was developed. This programme consisted of disease education, disease management training, and psychological support, together with topical treatment. To test a disease management programme in dermatological practice, to assess patients' satisfaction with this programme, and adherence to topical treatment. Additionally, disease severity and quality of life were assessed. An initial clinical investigation was conducted in 10 European treatment centres. A total of 330 patients were included. Patient satisfaction, adherence, disease severity and quality of life were measured with study-specific and standardized self-report questionnaires. Patients reported a high degree of satisfaction with the programme, and a high degree of adherence to topical treatment. Disease severity and quality of life significantly improved. The programme was well received by the participating professionals. The disease management programme was found to be a useful tool in the management of psoriasis, providing patients with relief from the burden of psoriasis in everyday life. A full-scale evaluation is recommended.

Improving PSA quality of KSNP PSA model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Joon Eon; Ha, Jae Joo

2004-01-01

In the RIR (Risk-informed Regulation), PSA (Probabilistic Safety Assessment) plays a major role because it provides overall risk insights for the regulatory body and utility. Therefore, the scope, the level of details and the technical adequacy of PSA, i.e. the quality of PSA is to be ensured for the successful RIR. To improve the quality of Korean PSA, we evaluate the quality of the KSNP (Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant) internal full-power PSA model based on the 'ASME PRA Standard' and the 'NEI PRA Peer Review Process Guidance.' As a working group, PSA experts of the regulatory body and industry also participated in the evaluation process. It is finally judged that the overall quality of the KSNP PSA is between the ASME Standard Capability Category I and II. We also derive some items to be improved for upgrading the quality of the PSA up to the ASME Standard Capability Category II. In this paper, we show the result of quality evaluation, and the activities to improve the quality of the KSNP PSA model

A quality improvement management model for renal care.

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Vlchek, D L; Day, L M

1991-04-01

The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for applying the theory and tools of quality improvement (total quality management) in the renal care setting. We believe that the coupling of the statistical techniques used in the Deming method of quality improvement, with modern approaches to outcome and process analysis, will provide the renal care community with powerful tools, not only for improved quality (i.e., reduced morbidity and mortality), but also for technology evaluation and resource allocation.

Responsive parenting is associated with improved type 1 diabetes-related quality of life.

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Botello-Harbaum, M; Nansel, T; Haynie, D L; Iannotti, R J; Simons-Morton, B

2008-09-01

Improved quality of life is an important treatment goal for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. While previous research supports a relationship between family environment and quality of life, little research has addressed the relationship of parenting style constructs to quality of life in children with chronic disease. The present investigation assesses the relationship of parent responsiveness and demandingness with diabetes-related quality of life among children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Baseline and 12-month follow-up self-report assessments were collected on a sample of 81 children with type 1 diabetes participating in an efficacy trial of a behavioural intervention to enhance adherence. The sample had a mean age of 13.3 years (SD=1.7) and duration of diabetes of 7.7 years (SD=3.7). Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship of parent responsiveness and demandingness to diabetes-related quality of life at each time point. After adjusting for demographic and diabetes characteristics, as well as diabetes-specific parent-child behaviours, parent responsiveness was significantly associated with baseline diabetes-related quality of life (beta=0.23; P=0.04). This relationship was sustained at 12-month follow-up (beta=0.22; P=0.04) after adjusting for baseline quality of life and treatment group assignment, suggesting that parent responsiveness is associated with improved quality of life. Findings indicate the importance of a supportive and emotionally warm parenting style in promoting improved quality of life for children with type 1 diabetes. Appropriate parenting skills should be an element of diabetes family management health care.

Tai Chi Exercise to Improve Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.

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Nocera, Joe R; Amano, Shinichi; Vallabhajosula, Srikant; Hass, Chris J

2013-08-20

A substantial number of individuals with Parkinson's disease exhibit debilitating non-motor symptoms that decrease quality of life. To date, few treatment options exist for the non-motor symptomatology related to Parkinson's disease. The goal of this pilot investigation was to determine the effects of Tai Chi exercise on the non-motor symptomology in Parkinson's disease. Twenty-one individuals with Parkinson's disease were enrolled in a Tai Chi intervention (n=15) or a noncontact control group (n=6). Participants assigned to Tai Chi participated in 60-minute Tai Chi sessions three times per week, for 16 weeks. Pre and post measures included indices of cognitive-executive function including visuomotor tracking and attention, selective attention, working memory, inhibition, processing speed and task switching. Additionally, all participants were evaluated on the Parkinson's disease Questionnaire-39 and Tinetti's Falls Efficacy Scale. Results indicated that the Tai Chi training group had significantly better scores following the intervention than the control group on the Parkinson's disease Questionnaire-39 total score as well as the emotional well-being sub score. Trends for improvement were noted for the Tai Chi group on Digits Backwards, Tinetti's Falls Efficacy Scale, and the activities of daily living and communication sub scores of the Parkinson's disease Questionnaire-39. This research provides initial data that supports future studies to definitively establish efficacy of Tai Chi to improve non-motor features of Parkinson's disease.

Impact of continuous quality improvement initiatives on clinical outcomes in peritoneal dialysis.

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Yu, Yusheng; Zhou, Yan; Wang, Han; Zhou, Tingting; Li, Qing; Li, Taoyu; Wu, Yan; Liu, Zhihong

2014-06-01

We evaluated the role of a quality improvement initiative in improving clinical outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD). In a retrospective analysis of 6 years of data from a hospital registry, the period between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2008 (control group) provided baseline data from before implementation of systemic outcomes monitoring, and the period between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2011 [continuous quality improvement (CQI) group] represented the time when a CQI program was in place. Peritonitis incidence, patient and technique survival, cardiovascular status, causes of death, and drop-out were compared between the groups. In the 370 patients of the CQI group and the 249 patients of the control group, the predominant underlying kidney diseases were chronic glomerulonephritis and diabetic nephropathy. After implementation of the CQI initiative, the peritonitis rate declined to 1 episode in 77.25 patient-months from 1 episode in 22.86 patient-months. Ultrasound parameters of cardiac structure were generally unchanged in the CQI group, but significant increases in cardiothoracic ratio and interventricular septal thickness were observed in the control group (both p improve technique survival rates: 95.6%, 92.6%, and 92.6% in the CQI group compared with 89.6%, 79.2%, and 76.8% in the control group (p improve the quality of therapy and its outcomes. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.

45 CFR 1304.60 - Deficiencies and quality improvement plans.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Deficiencies and quality improvement plans. 1304... must correct the deficiency either immediately or pursuant to a Quality Improvement Plan. (c) An Early... Improvement Plan must submit to the responsible HHS official a Quality Improvement Plan specifying, for each...

Does diabetes disease management save money and improve outcomes? A report of simultaneous short-term savings and quality improvement associated with a health maintenance organization-sponsored disease management program among patients fulfilling health employer data and information set criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Sidorov, Jaan; Shull, Robert; Tomcavage, Janet; Girolami, Sabrina; Lawton, Nadine; Harris, Ronald

2002-04-01

Little is known about the impact of disease management programs on medical costs for patients with diabetes. This study compared health care costs for patients who fulfilled health employer data and information set (HEDIS) criteria for diabetes and were in a health maintenance organization (HMO)-sponsored disease management program with costs for those not in disease management. We retrospectively examined paid health care claims and other measures of health care use over 2 years among 6,799 continuously enrolled Geisinger Health Plan patients who fulfilled HEDIS criteria for diabetes. Two groups were compared: those who were enrolled in an opt-in disease management program and those who were not enrolled. We also compared HEDIS data on HbA(1c) testing, percent not in control, lipid testing, diabetic eye screening, and kidney disease screening. All HEDIS measures were based on a hybrid method of claims and chart audits, except for percent not in control, which was based on chart audits only. Of 6,799 patients fulfilling HEDIS criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes, 3,118 (45.9%) patients were enrolled in a disease management program (program), and 3,681 (54.1%) were not enrolled (nonprogram). Both groups had similar male-to-female ratios, and the program patients were 1.4 years younger than the nonprogram patients. Per member per month paid claims averaged 394.62 dollars for program patients compared with 502.48 dollars for nonprogram patients (P 9.5%, as compared with 79 of 548 (14.4%) nonprogram patients. In this HMO, an opt-in disease management program appeared to be associated with a significant reduction in health care costs and other measures of health care use. There was also a simultaneous improvement in HEDIS measures of quality care. These data suggest that disease management may result in savings for sponsored managed care organizations and that improvements in HEDIS measures are not necessarily associated with increased medical costs.

Improving patient safety through quality assurance.

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Raab, Stephen S

2006-05-01

Anatomic pathology laboratories use several quality assurance tools to detect errors and to improve patient safety. To review some of the anatomic pathology laboratory patient safety quality assurance practices. Different standards and measures in anatomic pathology quality assurance and patient safety were reviewed. Frequency of anatomic pathology laboratory error, variability in the use of specific quality assurance practices, and use of data for error reduction initiatives. Anatomic pathology error frequencies vary according to the detection method used. Based on secondary review, a College of American Pathologists Q-Probes study showed that the mean laboratory error frequency was 6.7%. A College of American Pathologists Q-Tracks study measuring frozen section discrepancy found that laboratories improved the longer they monitored and shared data. There is a lack of standardization across laboratories even for governmentally mandated quality assurance practices, such as cytologic-histologic correlation. The National Institutes of Health funded a consortium of laboratories to benchmark laboratory error frequencies, perform root cause analysis, and design error reduction initiatives, using quality assurance data. Based on the cytologic-histologic correlation process, these laboratories found an aggregate nongynecologic error frequency of 10.8%. Based on gynecologic error data, the laboratory at my institution used Toyota production system processes to lower gynecologic error frequencies and to improve Papanicolaou test metrics. Laboratory quality assurance practices have been used to track error rates, and laboratories are starting to use these data for error reduction initiatives.

How to develop a patient and carer advisory group in a quality improvement study.

Science.gov (United States)

Loud, Fiona; Jain, Neerja; Thomas, Nicola

2013-09-01

This paper explores how a group of people with renal or other vascular conditions collaborated with renal practitioners in undertaking a quality improvement project, the aim of which was to reduce variation in care for people with Stages 3-4 chronic kidney disease. The patient advisory group supporting the project took a decisive and leading role in the creation of self-management materials and subsequent training for healthcare professionals and patients. The role of the patient advisory group was evaluated informally throughout the project. Confidence amongst the patient advisory group members grew as the project developed. Clinicians are often unclear on how to involve patients and carers in quality improvement projects, yet it is increasingly recognised as important. In practice, patients with experience of long-term conditions can co-lead quality improvement projects. It is recommended that further evaluation of the role of advisory groups is warranted. © 2013 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy improves the quality of life of patients with acromegaly.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunzler, Lia Silvia; Naves, Luciana Ansaneli; Casulari, Luiz Augusto

2018-06-01

The delayed diagnosis, altered body image, and clinical complications associated with acromegaly impair quality of life. To assess the efficacy of the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) technique "Think Healthy" to increase the quality of life of patients with acromegaly. This non-randomized clinical trial examined ten patients with acromegaly (nine women and one man; mean age, 55.5 ± 8.4 years) from a convenience sample who received CBT. The intervention included nine weekly group therapy sessions. The quality of life questionnaire the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered during the pre- and post-intervention phases. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to assess the occurrence of significant differences. According to the SF-36, the general health domain significantly improved (d'  = - 0.264; p = 0.031). The mental health domain improved considerably (d'  = - 1.123; p = 0.012). Physical functioning showed a non-significant trend toward improvement (d'  = - 0.802; p = 0.078), although four of the five patients who showed floor effects improved and remained at this level. Regarding emotional well-being, five patients showed floor effects and four improved, and the condition did not change among any of the four patients who showed ceiling effects. No significant changes were found with regard to the other domains. No significant differences in the BDI were found before or after the intervention. The technique presented herein effectively improved the quality of life of patients with acromegaly with different levels of disease activity, type, and treatment time.

Quality of life of individuals with sickle cell disease followed at referral centers in Alagoas, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosana Quintella Brandão Vilela

2012-01-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease is a genetic, hereditary and chronic disease that affects the health of its carriers and might impair their health-related quality of life. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to assess the health-related quality of life of individuals with sickle cell disease followed at referral centers in Alagoas, Brazil. METHODS: A total of 40 individuals with sickle cell disease aged 12 to 43 years old were evaluated by means of sociodemographic and clinical questionnaires, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey and the Beck Depression Inventory. The latter was applied only to adults. RESULTS: Most participants were adults (62.5% with a predominance of the SS genotype (85% with pain being the commonest complication (95%. Mood disorder was found in 40% of the adults. The patients exhibited overall impairment of quality of life, which was more pronounced among the adults and under 15-year-old adolescents. Married adults exhibited less impairment of most quality of life domains compared to unmarried adults, and the adults with mood disorder exhibited greater impairment of all quality of life domains. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that interventions that aim to improve vitality, pain, and mental health might contribute to maintaining high levels of quality of life in patients with sickle cell disease, especially among adults and under 15-year-old adolescents.

Improving organizational climate for quality and quality of care: does membership in a collaborative help?

Science.gov (United States)

Nembhard, Ingrid M; Northrup, Veronika; Shaller, Dale; Cleary, Paul D

2012-11-01

The lack of quality-oriented organizational climates is partly responsible for deficiencies in patient-centered care and poor quality more broadly. To improve their quality-oriented climates, several organizations have joined quality improvement collaboratives. The effectiveness of this approach is unknown. To evaluate the impact of collaborative membership on organizational climate for quality and service quality. Twenty-one clinics, 4 of which participated in a collaborative sponsored by the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement. Pre-post design. Preassessments occurred 2 months before the collaborative began in January 2009. Postassessments of service quality and climate occurred about 6 months and 1 year, respectively, after the collaborative ended in January 2010. We surveyed clinic employees (eg, physicians, nurses, receptionists, etc.) about the organizational climate and patients about service quality. Prioritization of quality care, high-quality staff relationships, and open communication as indicators of quality-oriented climate and timeliness of care, staff helpfulness, doctor-patient communication, rating of doctor, and willingness to recommend doctor's office as indicators of service quality. There was no significant effect of collaborative membership on quality-oriented climate and mixed effects on service quality. Doctors' ratings improved significantly more in intervention clinics than in control clinics, staff helpfulness improved less, and timeliness of care declined more. Ratings of doctor-patient communication and willingness to recommend doctor were not significantly different between intervention and comparison clinics. Membership in the collaborative provided no significant advantage for improving quality-oriented climate and had equivocal effects on service quality.

Advances in public health accreditation readiness and quality improvement: evaluation findings from the National Public Health Improvement Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

McLees, Anita W; Thomas, Craig W; Nawaz, Saira; Young, Andrea C; Rider, Nikki; Davis, Mary

2014-01-01

Continuous quality improvement is a central tenet of the Public Health Accreditation Board's (PHAB) national voluntary public health accreditation program. Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII) in 2010 with the goal of advancing accreditation readiness, performance management, and quality improvement (QI). Evaluate the extent to which NPHII awardees have achieved program goals. NPHII awardees responded to an annual assessment and program monitoring data requests. Analysis included simple descriptive statistics. Seventy-four state, tribal, local, and territorial public health agencies receiving NPHII funds. NPHII performance improvement managers or principal investigators. Development of accreditation prerequisites, completion of an organizational self-assessment against the PHAB Standards and Measures, Version 1.0, establishment of a performance management system, and implementation of QI initiatives to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Of the 73 responding NPHII awardees, 42.5% had a current health assessment, 26% had a current health improvement plan, and 48% had a current strategic plan in place at the end of the second program year. Approximately 26% of awardees had completed an organizational PHAB self-assessment, 72% had established at least 1 of the 4 components of a performance management system, and 90% had conducted QI activities focused on increasing efficiencies and/or effectiveness. NPHII appears to be supporting awardees' initial achievement of program outcomes. As NPHII enters its third year, there will be additional opportunities to advance the work of NPHII, compile and disseminate results, and inform a vision of high-quality public health necessary to improve the health of the population.

Defining and Assessing Quality Improvement Outcomes: A Framework for Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Nawaz, Saira; Thomas, Craig; Young, Andrea

2015-01-01

We describe an evidence-based framework to define and assess the impact of quality improvement (QI) in public health. Developed to address programmatic and research-identified needs for articulating the value of public health QI in aggregate, this framework proposes a standardized set of measures to monitor and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public health programs and operations. We reviewed the scientific literature and analyzed QI initiatives implemented through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative to inform the selection of 5 efficiency and 8 effectiveness measures. This framework provides a model for identifying the types of improvement outcomes targeted by public health QI efforts and a means to understand QI’s impact on the practice of public health. PMID:25689185

Development of a quality-of-life instrument for autoimmune bullous disease: the Autoimmune Bullous Disease Quality of Life questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebaratnam, Deshan F; Hanna, Anna Marie; Chee, Shien-ning; Frew, John W; Venugopal, Supriya S; Daniel, Benjamin S; Martin, Linda K; Rhodes, Lesley M; Tan, Jeremy Choon Kai; Wang, Charles Qian; Welsh, Belinda; Nijsten, Tamar; Murrell, Dédée F

2013-10-01

Quality-of-life (QOL) evaluation is an increasingly important outcome measure in dermatology, with disease-specific QOL instruments being the most sensitive to changes in disease status. To develop a QOL instrument specific to autoimmune bullous disease (AIBD). A comprehensive item generation process was used to build a 45-item pilot Autoimmune Bullous Disease Quality of Life (ABQOL) questionnaire, distributed to 70 patients with AIBD. Experts in bullous disease refined the pilot ABQOL before factor analysis was performed to yield the final ABQOL questionnaire of 17 questions. We evaluated validity and reliability across a range of indices. Australian dermatology outpatient clinics and private dermatology practices. PATIENTS AND EXPOSURE: Patients with a histological diagnosis of AIBD. The development of an AIBD-specific QOL instrument. Face and content validity were established through the comprehensive patient interview process and expert review. In terms of convergent validity, the ABQOL was found to have a moderate correlation with scores on the Dermatology Life Quality Index (R = 0.63) and the General Health subscale of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (R = 0.69; P = .009) and low correlation with the Pemphigus Disease Area Index (R = 0.42) and Autoimmune Bullous Disease Skin Disorder Intensity Score (R = 0.48). In terms of discriminant validity, the ABQOL was found to be more sensitive than the Dermatology Life Quality Index (P = .02). The ABQOL was also found to be a reliable instrument evaluated by internal consistency (Cronbach α coefficient, 0.84) and test-retest reliability (mean percentage variation, 0.92). The ABQOL has been shown to be a valid and reliable instrument that may serve as an end point in clinical trials. Future work should include incorporating patient weighting on questions to further increase content validity and translation of the measure to other languages. anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12612000750886.

Quality of Life in Crohn's Disease

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gabalec, L.; Bureš, J.; Šedová, Michaela; Valenta, Zdeněk

2007-01-01

Roč. 56, Suppl. 3 (2007), A138-A138 ISSN 0017-5749. [United European Gastroenterology Week /15./. 27.10.2007-31.10.2007, Paris] Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : quality of life * Crohn´s disease * inflammatory bowel disease Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research

Electronic health records improve clinical note quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Harry B; Sessums, Laura L; Hoang, Albert; Becher, Dorothy A; Fontelo, Paul; Liu, Fang; Stephens, Mark; Pangaro, Louis N; O'Malley, Patrick G; Baxi, Nancy S; Bunt, Christopher W; Capaldi, Vincent F; Chen, Julie M; Cooper, Barbara A; Djuric, David A; Hodge, Joshua A; Kane, Shawn; Magee, Charles; Makary, Zizette R; Mallory, Renee M; Miller, Thomas; Saperstein, Adam; Servey, Jessica; Gimbel, Ronald W

2015-01-01

The clinical note documents the clinician's information collection, problem assessment, clinical management, and its used for administrative purposes. Electronic health records (EHRs) are being implemented in clinical practices throughout the USA yet it is not known whether they improve the quality of clinical notes. The goal in this study was to determine if EHRs improve the quality of outpatient clinical notes. A five and a half year longitudinal retrospective multicenter quantitative study comparing the quality of handwritten and electronic outpatient clinical visit notes for 100 patients with type 2 diabetes at three time points: 6 months prior to the introduction of the EHR (before-EHR), 6 months after the introduction of the EHR (after-EHR), and 5 years after the introduction of the EHR (5-year-EHR). QNOTE, a validated quantitative instrument, was used to assess the quality of outpatient clinical notes. Its scores can range from a low of 0 to a high of 100. Sixteen primary care physicians with active practices used QNOTE to determine the quality of the 300 patient notes. The before-EHR, after-EHR, and 5-year-EHR grand mean scores (SD) were 52.0 (18.4), 61.2 (16.3), and 80.4 (8.9), respectively, and the change in scores for before-EHR to after-EHR and before-EHR to 5-year-EHR were 18% (pquality scores significantly improved over the 5-year time interval. The EHR significantly improved the overall quality of the outpatient clinical note and the quality of all its elements, including the core and non-core elements. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that the EHR significantly improves the quality of clinical notes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

How Quality Improvement Practice Evidence Can Advance the Knowledge Base.

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OʼRourke, Hannah M; Fraser, Kimberly D

2016-01-01

Recommendations for the evaluation of quality improvement interventions have been made in order to improve the evidence base of whether, to what extent, and why quality improvement interventions affect chosen outcomes. The purpose of this article is to articulate why these recommendations are appropriate to improve the rigor of quality improvement intervention evaluation as a research endeavor, but inappropriate for the purposes of everyday quality improvement practice. To support our claim, we describe the differences between quality improvement interventions that occur for the purpose of practice as compared to research. We then carefully consider how feasibility, ethics, and the aims of evaluation each impact how quality improvement interventions that occur in practice, as opposed to research, can or should be evaluated. Recommendations that fit the evaluative goals of practice-based quality improvement interventions are needed to support fair appraisal of the distinct evidence they produce. We describe a current debate on the nature of evidence to assist in reenvisioning how quality improvement evidence generated from practice might complement that generated from research, and contribute in a value-added way to the knowledge base.

Data Quality Assessment and Recommendations to Improve the Quality of Hemodialysis Database

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Neda Firouraghi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Since clinical data contain abnormalities, quality assessment and reporting of data errors are necessary. Data quality analysis consists of developing strategies, making recommendations to avoid future errors and improving the quality of data entry by identifying error types and their causes. Therefore, this approach can be extremely useful to improve the quality of the databases. The aim of this study was to analyze hemodialysis (HD patients’ data in order to improve the quality of data entry and avoid future errors. Method: The study was done on Shiraz University of Medical Sciences HD database in 2015. The database consists of 2367 patients who had at least 12 months follow up (22.34±11.52 months in 2012-2014. Duplicated data were removed; outliers were detected based on statistical methods, expert opinion and the relationship between variables; then, the missing values were handled in 72 variables by using IBM SPSS Statistics 22 in order to improve the quality of the database. According to the results, some recommendations were given to improve the data entry process. Results: The variables had outliers in the range of 0-9.28 percent. Seven variables had missing values over 20 percent and in the others they were between 0 and 19.73 percent. The majority of missing values belong to serum alkaline phosphatase, uric acid, high and low density lipoprotein, total iron binding capacity, hepatitis B surface antibody titer, and parathyroid hormone. The variables with displacement (the values of two or more variables were recorded in the wrong attribute were weight, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These variables may lead to decreased data quality. Conclusion: According to the results and expert opinion, applying some data entry principles, such as defining ranges of values, using the relationship between hemodialysis features, developing alert systems about empty or duplicated data and

Continuous quality improvement in the ambulatory endoscopy center.

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Johanson, John F

2002-04-01

What does quality assessment have to do with the practicing gastroenterologist? Why should one spend the time and effort to incorporate CQI activities into an already busy practice? First and foremost, quality improvement should directly benefit the patient by ensuring that they receive the highest quality of care possible. For example, comparing endoscopic use or outcomes, such as procedure success or complications, with national standards or other endoscopists in the same community may identify physicians who could benefit from additional training. Similar analyses may likewise identify outstanding physicians who might serve as resources for other physicians. Surveys of patient satisfaction may reveal deficiencies, which might be unknown to a physician who is otherwise technically excellent; deficiencies that would never have been uncovered by traditional measures of quality. Second, applying the techniques of CQI to study one's own practice can provide a competitive edge when vying for managed care or corporate contracts. In this regard, CQI can be used to document physician or practice performance through tracking of endoscopic use, procedure success and complication rates, and patient satisfaction. Finally, the rising concern among various patient advocacy groups has led to an increased emphasis on quality improvement, and in most cases it is a required activity as part of the accreditation process. Steps to quality improvement There is more to quality improvement than simply selecting and implementing a performance improvement plan. A number of steps have been suggested to achieve fundamental improvement in the quality of medical care [3]. The first is to use outcomes management for improvement rather than for judgment. One of the major criticisms of QA is that it will be used to judge physicians providing care. It is feared that CQI will be used to identify poor performers who will then be punished. This strategy leads to fear and inhibits an honest pursuit

Technological measures to improve automotive product quality

OpenAIRE

Gladkov, V.; Kruglov, S.

2010-01-01

The paper examines the basic technological measures aimed at improving product quality in automotive industry. While paying due attention to solving organizational and technological problems, including the development of certification systems for production processes, it is also necessary to improve the technical standards of specific technologies, equipment and materials as they largely determine product quality. Special emphasis is given to the importance of improving the production of auto...

Framing quality improvement tools and techniques in healthcare the case of improvement leaders' guides.

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Millar, Ross

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present a study of how quality improvement tools and techniques are framed within healthcare settings. The paper employs an interpretive approach to understand how quality improvement tools and techniques are mobilised and legitimated. It does so using a case study of the NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders' Guides in England. Improvement Leaders' Guides were framed within a service improvement approach encouraging the use of quality improvement tools and techniques within healthcare settings. Their use formed part of enacting tools and techniques across different contexts. Whilst this enactment was believed to support the mobilisation of tools and techniques, the experience also illustrated the challenges in distributing such approaches. The paper provides an important contribution in furthering our understanding of framing the "social act" of quality improvement. Given the ongoing emphasis on quality improvement in health systems and the persistent challenges involved, it also provides important information for healthcare leaders globally in seeking to develop, implement or modify similar tools and distribute leadership within health and social care settings.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT MODEL AT THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS PREPARATION LEVEL

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Dusko Pavletic

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The paper expresses base for an operational quality improvement model at the manufacturing process preparation level. A numerous appropriate related quality assurance and improvement methods and tools are identified. Main manufacturing process principles are investigated in order to scrutinize one general model of manufacturing process and to define a manufacturing process preparation level. Development and introduction of the operational quality improvement model is based on a research conducted and results of methods and tools application possibilities in real manufacturing processes shipbuilding and automotive industry. Basic model structure is described and presented by appropriate general algorithm. Operational quality improvement model developed lays down main guidelines for practical and systematic application of quality improvements methods and tools.

Bringing quality improvement into the intensive care unit.

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McMillan, Tracy R; Hyzy, Robert C

2007-02-01

During the last several years, many governmental and nongovernmental organizations have championed the application of the principles of quality improvement to the practice of medicine, particularly in the area of critical care. To review the breadth of approaches to quality improvement in the intensive care unit, including measures such as mortality and length of stay, and the use of protocols, bundles, and the role of large, multiple-hospital collaboratives. Several agencies have participated in the application of the quality movement to medicine, culminating in the development of standards such as the intensive care unit core measures of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Although "zero defects" may not be possible in all measurable variables of quality in the intensive care unit, several measures, such as catheter-related bloodstream infections, can be significantly reduced through the implementation of improved processes of care, such as care bundles. Large, multiple-center, quality improvement collaboratives, such as the Michigan Keystone Intensive Care Unit Project, may be particularly effective in improving the quality of care by creating a "bandwagon effect" within a geographic region. The quality revolution is having a significant effect in the critical care unit and is likely to be facilitated by the transition to the electronic medical record.

Integrating empowerment evaluation and quality improvement to achieve healthcare improvement outcomes

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Wandersman, Abraham; Alia, Kassandra Ann; Cook, Brittany; Ramaswamy, Rohit

2015-01-01

While the body of evidence-based healthcare interventions grows, the ability of health systems to deliver these interventions effectively and efficiently lags behind. Quality improvement approaches, such as the model for improvement, have demonstrated some success in healthcare but their impact has been lessened by implementation challenges. To help address these challenges, we describe the empowerment evaluation approach that has been developed by programme evaluators and a method for its application (Getting To Outcomes (GTO)). We then describe how GTO can be used to implement healthcare interventions. An illustrative healthcare quality improvement example that compares the model for improvement and the GTO method for reducing hospital admissions through improved diabetes care is described. We conclude with suggestions for integrating GTO and the model for improvement. PMID:26178332

Better experiences with quality of care predict well-being of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the Netherlands

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Jane Murray Cramm

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study was conducted to (1 identify improvements in care quality and well-being of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the Netherlands and (2 investigate the longitudinal relationship between these factors. Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted among patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease enrolled in the Kennemer Lucht care programme in the Netherlands. Biomarker data (lung capacity were collected at patients’ health care practices in 2012. Complete case analysis was conducted, and the multiple imputation technique allowed us to report pooled results from imputed datasets. Results: Surveys were filled out by 548/1303 (42% patients at T0 (2012 and 569/996 (57% remaining participants at T1. Quality of care improved significantly (p < 0.05. Analyses adjusted for well-being at T0, age, educational level, marital status, gender, lung function and health behaviours showed that patients’ assessments of the quality of chronic care delivery at T0 (p < 0.01 and changes therein (p < 0.001 predicted patients’ well-being at T1. Conclusion: These results clearly show that the quality of care and changes therein are important for the well-being of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the primary care setting. Practice implications: To improve quality of care for chronically ill patients, multicomponent interventions may be needed.

Developing community-driven quality improvement initiatives to enhance chronic disease care in Indigenous communities in Canada: the FORGE AHEAD program protocol.

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Naqshbandi Hayward, Mariam; Paquette-Warren, Jann; Harris, Stewart B

2016-07-26

Given the dramatic rise and impact of chronic diseases and gaps in care in Indigenous peoples in Canada, a shift from the dominant episodic and responsive healthcare model most common in First Nations communities to one that places emphasis on proactive prevention and chronic disease management is urgently needed. The Transformation of Indigenous Primary Healthcare Delivery (FORGE AHEAD) Program partners with 11 First Nations communities across six provinces in Canada to develop and evaluate community-driven quality improvement (QI) initiatives to enhance chronic disease care. FORGE AHEAD is a 5-year research program (2013-2017) that utilizes a pre-post mixed-methods observational design rooted in participatory research principles to work with communities in developing culturally relevant innovations and improved access to available services. This intensive program incorporates a series of 10 inter-related and progressive program activities designed to foster community-driven initiatives with type 2 diabetes mellitus as the action disease. Preparatory activities include a national community profile survey, best practice and policy literature review, and readiness tool development. Community-level intervention activities include community and clinical readiness consultations, development of a diabetes registry and surveillance system, and QI activities. With a focus on capacity building, all community-level activities are driven by trained community members who champion QI initiatives in their community. Program wrap-up activities include readiness tool validation, cost-analysis and process evaluation. In collaboration with Health Canada and the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative, scale-up toolkits will be developed in order to build on lessons-learned, tools and methods, and to fuel sustainability and spread of successful innovations. The outcomes of this research program, its related cost and the subsequent policy recommendations, will have the potential to

Nursing clinical practice changes to improve self-management in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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Padilha, J M; Sousa, P A F; Pereira, F M S

2018-03-01

To propose nursing clinical practice changes to improve the development of patient self-management. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of the main causes of chronic morbidity, loss of quality of life and high mortality rates. Control of the disease's progression, the preservation of autonomy in self-care and maintenance of quality of life are extremely challenging for patients to execute in their daily living. However, there is still little evidence to support nursing clinical practice changes to improve the development of self-management. A participatory action research study was performed in a medicine inpatient department and the outpatient unit of a Portuguese hospital. The sample comprised 52 nurses and 99 patients. For data collection, we used interviews, participant observation and content analysis. The main elements of nursing clinical practice that were identified as a focus for improvement measures were the healthcare model, the organization of healthcare and the documentation of a support decision-making process. The specific guidelines, the provision of material to support decision-making and the optimization of information sharing between professionals positively influenced the change process. This change improved the development of self-management skills related to the awareness of the need for 'change', hope, involvement, knowledge and abilities. The implemented changes have improved health-related behaviours and clinical outcomes. To support self-management development skills, an effective nursing clinical practice change is needed. This study has demonstrated the relevance of a portfolio of techniques and tools to help patients adopt healthy behaviours. The involvement and participation of nurses and patients in the conceptualization, implementation and evaluation of policy change are fundamental issues to improve the quality of nursing care and clinical outcomes. © 2017 International Council of Nurses.

Generic and disease-specific measures of quality of life in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhattacharya, Sumangala; Vogel, A.; Hansen, M.L.

2010-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the pattern of association of generic and disease-specific quality of life (QoL) scales with standard clinical outcome variables in Alzheimer's disease (AD).......The aim of the study was to investigate the pattern of association of generic and disease-specific quality of life (QoL) scales with standard clinical outcome variables in Alzheimer's disease (AD)....

The ReACH Collaborative--improving quality home care.

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Boyce, Patricia Simino; Pace, Karen B; Lauder, Bonnie; Solomon, Debra A

2007-08-01

Research on quality of care has shown that vigorous leadership, clear goals, and compatible incentive systems are critical factors in influencing successful change (Institute of Medicine, 2001). Quality improvement is a complex process, and clinical quality improvement applications are more likely to be effective in organizations that are ready for change and have strong leaders, who are committed to creating and reinforcing a work environment that supports quality goals (Shortell, 1998). Key leadership roles include providing clear and sustained direction, articulating a coherent set of values and incentives to guide group and individual activities, aligning and integrating improvement efforts into organizational priorities, obtaining or freeing up resources to implement improvement activities, and creating a culture of "continuous improvement" that encourages and rewards the pursuit and achievement of shared quality aims (Institute of Medicine, 2001, 70-71). In summary, home health care is a significant and growing sector of the health care system that provides care to millions of vulnerable patients. There seems little doubt that home health agencies want to focus on quality of care issues and provide optimal care to home-based patients. Furthermore, there is a growing awareness of the value for adapting innovative, effective models for improving the culture of home care practice. This awareness stems from the notion that some agencies see quality improvement activities as a way for them to distinguish themselves not only to regulators and customers, but also to meet the cultural and transformational needs to remain viable in a constantly evolving and competitive health care industry.

[Quality assurance and quality improvement in medical practice. Part 3: Clinical audit in medical practice].

Science.gov (United States)

Godény, Sándor

2012-02-05

The first two articles in the series were about the definition of quality in healthcare, the quality approach, the importance of quality assurance, the advantages of quality management systems and the basic concepts and necessity of evidence based medicine. In the third article the importance and basic steps of clinical audit are summarised. Clinical audit is an integral part of quality assurance and quality improvement in healthcare, that is the responsibility of any practitioner involved in medical practice. Clinical audit principally measures the clinical practice against clinical guidelines, protocols and other professional standards, and sometimes induces changes to ensure that all patients receive care according to principles of the best practice. The clinical audit can be defined also as a quality improvement process that seeks to identify areas for service improvement, develop and carry out plans and actions to improve medical activity and then by re-audit to ensure that these changes have an effect. Therefore, its aims are both to stimulate quality improvement interventions and to assess their impact in order to develop clinical effectiveness. At the end of the article key points of quality assurance and improvement in medical practice are summarised.

A Simulation-Based Quality Improvement Initiative Improves Pediatric Readiness in Community Hospitals.

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Whitfill, Travis; Gawel, Marcie; Auerbach, Marc

2017-07-17

The National Pediatric Readiness Project Pediatric Readiness Survey (PRS) measured pediatric readiness in 4149 US emergency departments (EDs) and noted an average score of 69 on a 100-point scale. This readiness score consists of 6 domains: coordination of pediatric patient care (19/100), physician/nurse staffing and training (10/100), quality improvement activities (7/100), patient safety initiatives (14/100), policies and procedures (17/100), and availability of pediatric equipment (33/100). We aimed to assess and improve pediatric emergency readiness scores across Connecticut's hospitals. The aim of this study was to compare the National Pediatric Readiness Project readiness score before and after an in situ simulation-based assessment and quality improvement program in Connecticut hospitals. We leveraged in situ simulations to measure the quality of resuscitative care provided by interprofessional teams to 3 simulated patients (infant septic shock, infant seizure, and child cardiac arrest) presenting to their ED resuscitation bay. Assessments of EDs were made based on a composite quality score that was measured as the sum of 4 distinct domains: (1) adherence to sepsis guidelines, (2) adherence to cardiac arrest guidelines, (3) performance on seizure resuscitation, and (4) teamwork. After the simulation, a detailed report with scores, comparisons to other EDs, and a gap analysis were provided to sites. Based on this report, a regional children's hospital team worked collaboratively with each ED to develop action items and a timeline for improvements. The National Pediatric Readiness Project PRS scores, the primary outcome of this study, were measured before and after participation. Twelve community EDs in Connecticut participated in this project. The PRS scores were assessed before and after the intervention (simulation-based assessment and gap analysis/report-out). The average time between PRS assessments was 21 months. The PRS scores significantly improved 12

Proxy-rated quality of life in Alzheimer's disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vogel, Asmus; Bhattacharya, Suvosree; Waldorff, Frans Boch

2012-01-01

The study investigated the change in proxy rated quality of life (QoL) of a large cohort of home living patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a period of 36 months.......The study investigated the change in proxy rated quality of life (QoL) of a large cohort of home living patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) over a period of 36 months....

Quality Rating and Improvement System State Evaluations and Research

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Ferguson, Daniel

2016-01-01

A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a method used by states and local jurisdictions to assess the level of quality of child care and early education programs, improve quality, and convey quality ratings to parents and other consumers. A typical QRIS incorporates the following components: quality standards for participating providers;…

Quality of Disease Management and Risk of Mortality in English Primary Care Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Dusheiko, Mark; Gravelle, Hugh; Martin, Stephen; Smith, Peter C

2015-10-01

To investigate whether better management of chronic conditions by family practices reduces mortality risk. Two random samples of 5 million patients registered with over 8,000 English family practices followed up for 4 years (2004/5-2007/8). Measures of the quality of disease management for 10 conditions were constructed for each family practice for each year. The outcome measure was an indicator taking the value 1 if the patient died during a specified year, 0 otherwise. Cross-section and multilevel panel data multiple logistic regressions were estimated. Covariates included age, gender, morbidity, hospitalizations, attributed socio-economic characteristics, and local health care supply measures. Although a composite measure of the quality of disease management for all 10 conditions was significantly associated with lower mortality, only the quality of stroke care was significant when all 10 quality measures were entered in the regression. The panel data results suggest that a 1 percent improvement in the quality of stroke care could reduce the annual number of deaths in England by 782 [95 percent CI: 423, 1140]. A longer study period may be necessary to detect any mortality impact of better management of other conditions. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Nationwide quality improvement in lung cancer care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Erik Winther; Green, Anders; Oesterlind, Kell

2013-01-01

To improve prognosis and quality of lung cancer care the Danish Lung Cancer Group has developed a strategy consisting of national clinical guidelines and a clinical quality and research database. The first edition of our guidelines was published in 1998 and our national lung cancer registry...... was opened for registrations in 2000. This article describes methods and results obtained by multidisciplinary collaboration and illustrates how quality of lung cancer care can be improved by establishing and monitoring result and process indicators....

[Quality indicators for National Disease Management Guidelines using the example of the National Disease Management Guideline for "Chronic Heart Failure"].

Science.gov (United States)

Nothacker, Monika Judith; Langer, Thomas; Weinbrenner, Susanne

2011-01-01

Together with an expert committee a structured approach to determining quality indicators for National Disease Management Guidelines has been developed. The key steps of this approach include: introducing guideline authors to the methodology at an early stage of the process of guideline development, pre-selecting recommendations of the guideline which are potentially measurable by means of quality indicators, assessing the potentially measurable quality indicators in written form using five criteria (including their importance for the health care system and clarity of definitions) and approving them in a formal consensus process. For lack of a database these quality indicators must be regarded as preliminary. For the National Disease Management Guideline "Chronic Heart Failure" nine rate-based indicators have been chosen. The indicators correspond to important strong recommendations (grade of recommendation: A) from the fields of diagnosis (two), general therapeutic strategy (two), specific treatment (three), clinical monitoring (one) and co-ordination of care (one). In a second step, the quality indicators have to be validated within a pilot project. The determination and assessment of the potential quality indicators have revealed room for improvement of guideline development. In particular, there is a need for more health care data and for specification of recommendations.

Laboratory quality improvement in Thailand's northernmost provinces.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanitvittaya, S; Suksai, U; Suksripanich, O; Pobkeeree, V

2010-01-01

In Thailand nearly 1000 public health laboratories serve 65 million people. A qualified indicator of a good quality laboratory is Thailand Medical Technology Council certification. Consequently, Chiang Rai Regional Medical Sciences Center established a development program for laboratory certification for 29 laboratories in the province. This paper seeks to examine this issue. The goal was to improve laboratory service quality by voluntary participation, peer review, training and compliance with standards. The program consisted of specific activities. Training and workshops to update laboratory staffs' quality management knowledge were organized. Staff in each laboratory performed a self-assessment using a standard check-list to evaluate ten laboratory management areas. Chiang Rai Regional Medical Sciences Center staff supported the distribution of quality materials and documents. They provided calibration services for laboratory equipment. Peer groups performed an internal audit and successful laboratories received Thailand Medical Technology Council certification. By December 2007, eight of the 29 laboratories had improved quality sufficiently to be certified. Factors that influenced laboratories' readiness for quality improvement included the number of staff, their knowledge, budget and staff commitment to the process. Moreover, the support of each hospital's laboratory working group or network was essential for success. There was no clear policy for supporting the program. Laboratories voluntarily conducted quality management using existing resources. A bottom-up approach to this kind of project can be difficult to accomplish. Laboratory professionals can work together to illustrate and highlight outcomes for top-level health officials. A top-down, practical approach would be much less difficult to implement. Quality certification is a critical step for laboratory staff, which also encourages them to aspire to international quality standards like ISO. The

Key interventions and quality indicators for quality improvement of STEMI care: a RAND Delphi survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Aeyels, Daan; Sinnaeve, Peter R; Claeys, Marc J; Gevaert, Sofie; Schoors, Danny; Sermeus, Walter; Panella, Massimiliano; Coeckelberghs, Ellen; Bruyneel, Luk; Vanhaecht, Kris

2017-12-13

Identification, selection and validation of key interventions and quality indicators for improvement of in hospital quality of care for ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. A structured literature review was followed by a RAND Delphi Survey. A purposively selected multidisciplinary expert panel of cardiologists, nurse managers and quality managers selected and validated key interventions and quality indicators prior for quality improvement for STEMI. First, 34 experts (76% response rate) individually assessed the appropriateness of items to quality improvement on a nine point Likert scale. Twenty-seven key interventions, 16 quality indicators at patient level and 27 quality indicators at STEMI care programme level were selected. Eighteen additional items were suggested. Experts received personal feedback, benchmarking their score with group results (response rate, mean, median and content validity index). Consequently, 32 experts (71% response rate) openly discussed items with an item-content validity index above 75%. By consensus, the expert panel validated a final set of 25 key interventions, 13 quality indicators at patient level and 20 quality indicators at care programme level prior for improvement of in hospital care for STEMI. A structured literature review and multidisciplinary expertise was combined to validate a set of key interventions and quality indicators prior for improvement of care for STEMI. The results allow researchers and hospital staff to evaluate and support quality improvement interventions in a large cohort within the context of a health care system.

Quality Function Deployment Application for Improving Quality of Education in Business Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Sagnak, Muhittin; Ada, Nesrin; Kazancoglu, Yigit; Tayaksi, Cansu

2017-01-01

There is an increasing competition between universities globally to attract students. At this point, to compete, it is imperative for the universities to improve the quality of education provided for their stakeholders, including students, parents, and employers. For improving the quality of education, first of all, the universities should make…

IMPROVING QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN PANIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Petroman

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Consumers of panification products (as well as consumers of any other type of product or service are concerned about the quality of the products they purchase. Implementing the quality management system in the food industry is not compulsory, but it can bring about numerous, palpable benefits, particularly in reducing the amount of acryl amide. It is a modern system allowing the management analysis aiming at checking and reaching the goals to define new objectives, and the continuous improvement of the quality of processes and products.

Teaching Quality Improvement Through a Book Club

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Benjamin Doolittle

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Quality Improvement projects are an important part of residency education in the United States and are required for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Participation in standard chart-based quality improvement had failed to generate excitement among residents in our program. The objective of our innovation was to inspire interest in quality improvement among our residents. Methods: Our residency program instituted a book discussion group. Attendance and participation of attendees was recorded, and residents were sent a follow-up survey one month after the activity to gauge their impressions. Results: Out of 16 residents in the program, 12 attended the discussion group, and all attendees participated in the discussion. The follow-up survey revealed that 10/11 (91% of respondents had read at least part of the book and 11/11 (100% wanted to have another book discussion group in the upcoming year. Conclusion: We believe that the use of a book discussion group can be a novel, inspiring strategy to teach quality improvement in a residency program.

Title IV Quality Control Project, Stage II. Management Option II: Delivery System Quality Improvements.

Science.gov (United States)

Advanced Technology, Inc., Reston, VA.

Stage Two of the Title IV Quality Control Project is an integrated study of quality in five related Federal financial aid programs for postsecondary students. Section 1 of the paper establishes a framework for defining quality improvements, in order to identify the types of changes that would tend to improve quality across all facets of the…

[Quality of life of people with Parkinson's disease in the context of professional work and physiotherapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Cholewa, Joanna; Gorzkowska, Agnieszka; Nawrocka, Agnieszka; Cholewa, Jarosław

2017-10-17

Of many diseases and disorders of the nervous system Parkinson's disease (PD) deserves a particular attention for its specific effects having an impact on the ability to undertake different forms of professional and economic activities. Due to the constantly growing incidence rate and the lowering age of patients, PD is becoming more and more serious social problem. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of professional work and physiotherapy on the quality of live in people with Parkinson's disease. The research was carried out on 109 people with diagnosed PD of stage II according to the Hoehn and Yahr classification. They were divided into professionally working and non-working subjects and those participating and not participating in physiotherapy programs. The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), was used to estimate the patients' clinical status. The Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), the Quality of Life Short Form (SF-36) Questionnaire and the Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQL) were used to estimate the quality of life. In all groups statistically significant differences were observed in each of the used scale. The PDQ-39 (F = 5.278, p = 0.04), SF physical component (F = 4.24, p = 0.005), SF mental component (F = 3.45, p = 0.021), PDQL (F = 6.57, p = 0.003). The highest quality of life was noticed in people working professionally and participating in physiotherapy programs. Professional activity and participation in properly planned physiotherapy help reduce the symptoms and improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson's disease. The study showed that the quality of life of people with PD is determined by professional work and participation in the process of rehabilitation. Med Pr 2017;68(6):725-734. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Using quality measures for quality improvement: the perspective of hospital staff.

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Asgar Aghaei Hashjin

Full Text Available RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: This study examines the perspectives of a range of key hospital staff on the use, importance, scientific background, availability of data, feasibility of data collection, cost benefit aspects and availability of professional personnel for measurement of quality indicators among Iranian hospitals. The study aims to facilitate the use of quality indicators to improve quality of care in hospitals. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted over the period 2009 to 2010. Staff at Iranian hospitals completed a self-administered questionnaire eliciting their views on organizational, clinical process, and outcome (clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient centeredness indicators. POPULATION STUDIED: 93 hospital frontline staff including hospital/nursing managers, medical doctors, nurses, and quality improvement/medical records officers in 48 general and specialized hospitals in Iran. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: On average, only 69% of respondents reported using quality indicators in practice at their affiliated hospitals. Respondents varied significantly in their reported use of organizational, clinical process and outcome quality indicators. Overall, clinical process and effectiveness indicators were reported to be least used. The reported use of indicators corresponded with their perceived level of importance. Quality indicators were reported to be used among clinical staff significantly more than among managerial staff. In total, 74% of the respondents reported to use obligatory indicators, while this was 68% for voluntary indicators (p<0.05. CONCLUSIONS: There is a general awareness of the importance and usability of quality indicators among hospital staff in Iran, but their use is currently mostly directed towards external accountability purposes. To increase the formative use of quality indicators, creation of a common culture and feeling of shared ownership, alongside an increased uptake of clinical process and

Assessment of willingness to pay for improved air quality using contingent valuation method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Akhtar

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Rapid urbanization and severe air quality deterioration in Pakistan have increased citizens’s concern towards air pollution. This study, conducted in November, 2016, aimed to develop relationship between degraded air quality and resident’s willingness to pay for improved air quality in city of Lahore, Pakistan through contingent valuation method to quantify an individual’s willingness to pay for improved air quality. Hypothetical market was created and 250 respondents, selected through random sampling, were asked to respond to pre tested questionnaire. Results revealed that 92.5% of respondents showed positive willingness to pay and average predicted willingness to pay by each person was $9.86 per month. Respondents were willing to pay $118 per year which was 1.27% of their mean monthly income. Stepwise regression model was used to develop relationship between independent variables and willingness to pay. Most parameters accompanied by econometric analysis elaborated expected results. Results disclosed that annual household income, symptoms of respiratory diseases and self observed air pollution pointedly impact willingness to pay. It is concluded that despite of the fact that Pakistan is among the lower income countries with no rigid budget allocation for improvement in air quality, people of Pakistan are willing to pay to reduce air pollution load. One of the factor which effected the positivity of willingness to pay is that, a quite large number of people were suffering from pollution related respiratory disorders like asthma, chronic bronchitis, wheezing, cough, and chest congestion. Only 7.5% of respondents were not interested to pay for improved air quality which reported unconcerned attitude and lack of environmental awareness.

Engaging Clinical Nurses in Quality Improvement Projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Susan; Stichler, Jaynelle F

2015-10-01

Clinical nurses have the knowledge and expertise required to provide efficient and proficient patient care. Time and knowledge deficits can prevent nurses from developing and implementing quality improvement or evidence-based practice projects. This article reviews a process for professional development of clinical nurses that helped them to define, implement, and analyze quality improvement or evidence-based practice projects. The purpose of this project was to educate advanced clinical nurses to manage a change project from inception to completion, using the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) Change Acceleration Process as a framework. One-to-one mentoring and didactic in-services advanced the knowledge, appreciation, and practice of advanced practice clinicians who completed multiple change projects. The projects facilitated clinical practice changes, with improved patient outcomes; a unit cultural shift, with appreciation of quality improvement and evidence-based projects; and engagement with colleagues. Project outcomes were displayed in poster presentations at a hospital exposition for knowledge dissemination. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

40 CFR 63.175 - Quality improvement program for valves.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Quality improvement program for valves... alternative quality improvement programs specified in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section. The decision to... § 63.168 and § 63.175. (1) If the owner or operator elects to continue the quality improvement program...

Quality measurement and improvement in liver transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathur, Amit K; Talwalkar, Jayant

2018-06-01

There is growing interest in the quality of health care delivery in liver transplantation. Multiple stakeholders, including patients, transplant providers and their hospitals, payers, and regulatory bodies have an interest in measuring and monitoring quality in the liver transplant process, and understanding differences in quality across centres. This article aims to provide an overview of quality measurement and regulatory issues in liver transplantation performed within the United States. We review how broader definitions of health care quality should be applied to liver transplant care models. We outline the status quo including the current regulatory agencies, public reporting mechanisms, and requirements around quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) activities. Additionally, we further discuss unintended consequences and opportunities for growth in quality measurement. Quality measurement and the integration of quality improvement strategies into liver transplant programmes hold significant promise, but multiple challenges to successful implementation must be addressed to optimise value. Copyright © 2018 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases: the role of pain catastrophizing, fear-avoidance beliefs, physical disability, and depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Shim, Eun-Jung; Hahm, Bong-Jin; Go, Dong Jin; Lee, Kwang-Min; Noh, Hae Lim; Park, Seung-Hee; Song, Yeong Wook

2018-06-01

To examine factors in the fear-avoidance model, such as pain, pain catastrophizing, fear-avoidance beliefs, physical disability, and depression and their relationships with physical and psychological quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. The data were obtained from 360 patients with rheumatic diseases who completed self-report measures assessing study variables. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized relationships among factors specified in the fear-avoidance model predicting physical and psychological quality of life. Final models fit the data well, explaining 96% and 82% of the variance in physical and psychological quality of life, respectively. Higher pain catastrophizing was related to stronger fear-avoidance beliefs that had a direct negative association with physical disability and depression, which, in turn, negatively affected physical quality of life. Pain severity was also directly related to physical disability. Physical disability also affected physical quality of life indirectly through depression. The hypothesized relationships specified in the model were also confirmed for psychological quality of life. However, physical disability had an indirect association with psychological quality of life via depression. The current results underscore the significant role of cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors in perceived physical disability and their mediated detrimental effect on physical and psychological quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. Implications for rehabilitation The fear-avoidance model is applicable to the prediction of quality of life in patients with rheumatic diseases. As pain-catastrophizing and fear-avoidance beliefs are important factors linked to physical disability and depression, intervening these cognitive factors is necessary to improve physical function and depression in patients with rheumatic diseases. Considering the strong association between depression and

Increased office productivity through improved indoor air quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fanger, Povl Ole

2002-01-01

Control of indoor pollution sources and ventilation are both means of improving indoor air quality. Three independent experiments have recently documented that removing a pollution source or increasing the ventilation rate will improve perceived air quality, reduce the intensity of several Sick...... with the air quality was reduced by either measure. The quantitative relationsh8ip was 1.1% change in performance per 10% dissatisfied, in the range 25-70% dissatisifed, or 0.5% change in performance per 1 decipol (dp), in the range 2-13 dp. Significant improvements in performance occurred only when......, future developments in HVCAC technology may include "personalized air ", new ways of improving the quality of supply air (e.g., by filtration), more extensive use of heat recovery from exhaust air and systematic selection of low-polluting building and furnishing materials....

Evaluation of a Quality Improvement Resource for Public Health Practitioners.

Science.gov (United States)

Porterfield, Deborah S; Marcial, Laura H; Brown, Stephen; Throop, Cynthia; Pina, Jamie

Quality improvement is a critical mechanism to manage public health agency performance and to strengthen accountability for public funds. The objective of this study was to evaluate a relatively new quality improvement resource, the Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange (PHQIX), a free online communication platform dedicated to making public health quality improvement information accessible to practitioners. We conducted an internet-based survey of registered PHQIX users (n = 536 respondents) in 2013 and key informant interviews with PHQIX frequent users (n = 21) in 2014, in the United States. We assessed use of the PHQIX website, user engagement and satisfaction, communication and knowledge exchange, use of information, and impact on quality improvement capacity and accreditation readiness. Of 462 respondents, 369 (79.9%) browsed quality improvement initiatives, making it the most commonly used site feature, and respondents described PHQIX as a near-unique source for real-world quality improvement examples. Respondents were satisfied with the quality and breadth of topics and relevance to their settings (average satisfaction scores, 3.9-4.1 [where 5 was the most satisfied]). Of 407 respondents, 237 (58.2%) said that they had put into practice information learned on PHQIX, and 209 of 405 (51.6%) said that PHQIX had helped to improve quality improvement capacity. Fewer than half of respondents used the commenting function, the Community Forum, and the Ask an Expert feature. Findings suggest that PHQIX, particularly descriptions of the quality improvement initiatives, is a valued resource for public health practitioners. Users reported sharing information with colleagues and applying what they learned to their own work. These findings may relate to other efforts to disseminate quality improvement knowledge.

Improving Power Quality in AC Supply Grids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Fabijański

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a digital and actual model of the UPQC (Unified Power Quality Conditioner integrated system for power quality improvement. The UPQC’s design and its connection to an AC supply grid, 1-phase and 3-phase alike, provide effective compensation of unwanted interferences in the waveforms of load supply voltages and non-linear load currents. This article presents an overview of topologies and control strategies. The study of the UPQC confirmed its positive impact on the power quality. The electricity parameters were significantly improved. Total harmonic distortion in supply voltage THDu decreased six-fold to 1.89%, and total harmonic distortion in load current THDi decreased more than ten-fold to 2.38% for a non-linear load (uncontrolled bridge rectifier with load L. Additionally, symmetrisation of supply voltages and reactive power compensation Q of linear load was obtained. The UPQC integrated system for power quality improvement can be used wherever high-quality and PN-EN 50160 standard – compliant electricity is required.

Fostering evidence-based quality improvement for patient-centered medical homes: Initiating local quality councils to transform primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stockdale, Susan E; Zuchowski, Jessica; Rubenstein, Lisa V; Sapir, Negar; Yano, Elizabeth M; Altman, Lisa; Fickel, Jacqueline J; McDougall, Skye; Dresselhaus, Timothy; Hamilton, Alison B

Although the patient-centered medical home endorses quality improvement principles, methods for supporting ongoing, systematic primary care quality improvement have not been evaluated. We introduced primary care quality councils at six Veterans Health Administration sites as an organizational intervention with three key design elements: (a) fostering interdisciplinary quality improvement leadership, (b) establishing a structured quality improvement process, and (c) facilitating organizationally aligned frontline quality improvement innovation. Our evaluation objectives were to (a) assess design element implementation, (b) describe implementation barriers and facilitators, and (c) assess successful quality improvement project completion and spread. We analyzed administrative records and conducted interviews with 85 organizational leaders. We developed and applied criteria for assessing design element implementation using hybrid deductive/inductive analytic techniques. All quality councils implemented interdisciplinary leadership and a structured quality improvement process, and all but one completed at least one quality improvement project and a toolkit for spreading improvements. Quality councils were perceived as most effective when service line leaders had well-functioning interdisciplinary communication. Matching positions within leadership hierarchies with appropriate supportive roles facilitated frontline quality improvement efforts. Two key resources were (a) a dedicated internal facilitator with project management, data collection, and presentation skills and (b) support for preparing customized data reports for identifying and addressing practice level quality issues. Overall, quality councils successfully cultivated interdisciplinary, multilevel primary care quality improvement leadership with accountability mechanisms and generated frontline innovations suitable for spread. Practice level performance data and quality improvement project management support

Improvements in geomagnetic observatory data quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reda, Jan; Fouassier, Danielle; Isac, Anca

2011-01-01

between observatories and the establishment of observatory networks has harmonized standards and practices across the world; improving the quality of the data product available to the user. Nonetheless, operating a highquality geomagnetic observatory is non-trivial. This article gives a record...... of the current state of observatory instrumentation and methods, citing some of the general problems in the complex operation of geomagnetic observatories. It further gives an overview of recent improvements of observatory data quality based on presentation during 11th IAGA Assembly at Sopron and INTERMAGNET...

Home-based pulmonary rehabilitation improves clinical features and systemic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nascimento ESP

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Eloisa Sanches Pereira do Nascimento,1 Luciana Maria Malosá Sampaio,1 Fabiana Sobral Peixoto-Souza,1 Fernanda Dultra Dias,1 Evelim Leal Freitas Dantas Gomes,1 Flavia Regina Greiffo,2 Ana Paula Ligeiro de Oliveira,2 Roberto Stirbulov,3 Rodolfo Paula Vieira,2 Dirceu Costa11Laboratory of Functional Respiratory Evaluation (LARESP, 2Laboratory of Pulmonary and Exercise Immunology (LABPEI, Nove de Julho University (UNINOVE, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; 3Department of Pneumology, Santa Casa University Hospital, São Paulo, SP, BrazilAbstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is a respiratory disease characterized by chronic airflow limitation that leads beyond the pulmonary changes to important systemic effects. COPD is characterized by pulmonary and systemic inflammation. However, increases in the levels of inflammatory cytokines in plasma are found even when the disease is stable. Pulmonary rehabilitation improves physical exercise capacity and quality of life and decreases dyspnea. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (HBPR program improves exercise tolerance in COPD patients, as well as health-related quality of life and systemic inflammation. This prospective study was conducted at the Laboratory of Functional Respiratory Evaluation, Nove de Julho University, São Paulo, Brazil. After anamnesis, patients were subjected to evaluations of health-related quality of life and dyspnea, spirometry, respiratory muscle strength, upper limbs incremental test, incremental shuttle walk test, and blood test for quantification of systemic inflammatory markers (interleukin [IL]-6 and IL-8. At the end of the evaluations, patients received a booklet containing the physical exercises to be performed at home, three times per week for 8 consecutive weeks. Around 25 patients were enrolled, and 14 completed the pre- and post-HBPR ratings. There was a significant increase in the walked distance and the maximal

PROCESS VARIABILITY REDUCTION THROUGH STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.P. Mahesh

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Quality has become one of the most important customer decision factors in the selection among the competing product and services. Consequently, understanding and improving quality is a key factor leading to business success, growth and an enhanced competitive position. Hence quality improvement program should be an integral part of the overall business strategy. According to TQM, the effective way to improve the Quality of the product or service is to improve the process used to build the product. Hence, TQM focuses on process, rather than results as the results are driven by the processes. Many techniques are available for quality improvement. Statistical Process Control (SPC is one such TQM technique which is widely accepted for analyzing quality problems and improving the performance of the production process. This article illustrates the step by step procedure adopted at a soap manufacturing company to improve the Quality by reducing process variability using Statistical Process Control.

Improving regional variation using quality of care measures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott A Berkowitz

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Scott A Berkowitz1, Gary Gerstenblith1, Robert Herbert2, Gerard Anderson1,21Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 2Center for Hospital Finance and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USAAbstract: There is significant regional variability in the quality of care provided in the United States. This article compares regional performance for three measures that focus on transitions in care, and the care of patients with multiple conditions. Admissions for people with ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge, and compliance with practice guidelines for people with three chronic conditions (congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes were analyzed using data drawn from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Standard Analytic Files for 5% of a 2004 national sample of Medicare beneficiaries which was divided by hospital referral regions and regional performance. There were significant regional differences in performance which we hypothesize could be improved through better care coordination and system management.Keywords: performance, quality, chronic condition, ambulatory care, sensitive conditions, readmissions

Physical Activity Improves Quality of Life

Science.gov (United States)

... It Works Healthy Workplace Food and Beverage Toolkit Physical activity improves quality of life Updated:Mar 2,2015 ... proven to improve both mental and physical health. Physical activity boosts mental wellness. Regular physical activity can relieve ...

Quality of patients life with celiac disease

OpenAIRE

Bičíková, Michaela

2016-01-01

This thesis is dealing with the quality of life of patients with celiac disease. In the theoretical part, I am presenting the characteristics of celiac disease and I am describing its history briefly. For better orientation in the issue, I also joined a description of the anatomy of the small intestine and pathophysiology of celiac disease. In this thesis I am also dealing with incidence of disease, etiology and risk factors participating in the development of celiac disease, symptoms and the...

HABIT, a Randomized Feasibility Trial to Increase Hydroxyurea Adherence, Suggests Improved Health-Related Quality of Life in Youths with Sickle Cell Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Smaldone, Arlene; Findley, Sally; Manwani, Deepa; Jia, Haomiao; Green, Nancy S

2018-06-01

To examine the effect of a community health worker (CHW) intervention, augmented by tailored text messages, on adherence to hydroxyurea therapy in youths with sickle cell disease, as well as on generic and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HrQL) and youth-parent self-management responsibility concordance. We conducted a 2-site randomized controlled feasibility study (Hydroxyurea Adherence for Personal Best in Sickle Cell Treatment [HABIT]) with 2:1 intervention allocation. Youths and parents participated as dyads. Intervention dyads received CHW visits and text message reminders. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and growth models adjusting for group assignment, time, and multiple comparisons. Changes in outcomes from 0 to 6 months were compared with their respective minimal clinically important differences. A total of 28 dyads (mean age of youths, 14.3 ± 2.6 years; 50% Hispanic) participated (18 in the intervention group, 10 in the control group), with 10.7% attrition. Accounting for group assignment, time, and multiple comparisons, at 6 months intervention youths reported improved generic HrQL total score (9.8 points; 95% CI, 0.4-19.2) and Emotions subscale score (15.0 points; 95% CI, 1.6-28.4); improved disease-specific subscale scores for Worry I (30.0 points; 95% CI, 8.5-51.5), Emotions (37.0 points, 95% CI, 9.4-64.5), and Communication I (17.8 points; 95% CI, 0.5-35.1); and 3-month dyad self-management responsibility concordance (3.5 points; 95% CI, -0.2 to 7.1). There were no differences in parent proxy-reported HrQL measures at 6 months. These findings add to research examining effects of behavioral interventions on HrQL outcomes in youths with sickle cell disease. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02029742. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The improvement of rice varieties for major pest and diseases resistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahi, I.; Silitonga, T.S.

1988-01-01

Since 1971, the rice breeding program in Indonesia has developed on intensive program to improve varieties for yield potential, resistancy to major pests and diseases, early maturity good grain and eating quality. In recent years, the attacks of insects and diseases are very severe in rice cultivation in Asia. Much of the losses were due to acontinuous planting or certain varieties. Between 1966 and 1973 tungro occured in epidemic proportions on separate occasions in Indonesia, Thailand, Nort East India, Bangladesh, and Philippine. Since 1973, investation of brown planthopper and green leafhopper several damaged rice crop in most parts of Indonesia. Presently, rice improvement are directed to develop high yielding rice varieties that are resistant to brown planthopper, ragged stunt virus, blast, green leafhopper, and gallmidge. Screening for pests and diseases are conducted in the laboratory as well as in the field. The adoption of those improved varieties by farmers has contributed greatly in our efforts to attain self sufficiency in rice production in Indonesia. GH 147 -M-40 krad-Pn-89 (irradiated Barito) showed resistant to brown planthopper biotype 1 and 2 and moderately resistant to biotype 3. Napa 40 krad-St-12 has resistant reaction to blast. (authors). 4 refs, 8 tabs

Ninety to Nothing: a PDSA quality improvement project.

Science.gov (United States)

Prybutok, Gayle Linda

2018-05-14

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a successful quality improvement project in an acute care hospital focused on reducing the time of the total patient visit in the emergency department. Design/methodology/approach A multidisciplinary quality improvement team, using the PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) Cycle, analyzed the emergency department care delivery process and sequentially made process improvements that contributed to project success. Findings The average turnaround time goal of 90 minutes or less per visit was achieved in four months, and the organization enjoyed significant collateral benefits both internal to the organization and for its customers. Practical implications This successful PDSA process can be duplicated by healthcare organizations of all sizes seeking to improve a process related to timely, high-quality patient care delivery. Originality/value Extended wait time in hospital emergency departments is a universal problem in the USA that reduces the quality of the customer experience and that delays necessary patient care. This case study demonstrates that a structured quality improvement process implemented by a multidisciplinary team with the authority to make necessary process changes can successfully redefine the norm.

Consumer Quality Index Chronic Skin Disease (CQI-CSD): a new instrument to measure quality of care from the patient's perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

van Cranenburgh, O D; Krol, M W; Hendriks, M C P; de Rie, M A; Smets, E M A; de Korte, J; Sprangers, M A G

2015-10-01

Assessing quality of care from the patient's perspective is considered to be highly relevant. As a standardized instrument in dermatology was lacking, we developed a patient experience questionnaire regarding chronic skin disease care: the Consumer Quality Index Chronic Skin Disease (CQI-CSD). (i) To evaluate the dimensional structure of the CQI-CSD, (ii) to assess its ability to distinguish between hospitals according to patients' experiences with quality of care, (iii) to explore patients' experiences with dermatological care and priorities for quality improvement according to the patients, and (iv) to optimize the questionnaire based on psychometric results and stakeholders' input. In a cross-sectional study 5647 adult patients who received dermatological care in the past 12 months in 20 hospitals were randomly selected and invited to fill out the questionnaire. Overall 1160 of 3989 eligible respondents (29% response rate, 30-87 per hospital) were included for analysis. The CQI-CSD comprised seven scales with high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0·74-0·92). The instrument's discriminative power was limited. Patients were positive about the care provided by nurses and doctors, but the provision of information by healthcare providers, accessibility of care and patient involvement could be improved. We optimized the CQI-CSD, resulting in a revised questionnaire containing 65 items. In conclusion, the CQI-CSD is a useful instrument to measure patient experiences with dermatological care. © 2015 British Association of Dermatologists.

Using Quality Improvement to Improve Internal and External Coordination and Referrals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cain, Katherine L; Collins, Ragan P

As part of accreditation, Public Health Accreditation Board site visitors recommended that the New Orleans Health Department strengthen its quality improvement program. With support from the Public Health Accreditation Board, the New Orleans Health Department subsequently embarked on a data-driven planning process through which it prioritized quality improvement projects for 2016. One of these projects aimed to improve referrals to New Orleans Health Department's direct services programs from local clinics and hospitals to better provide our most vulnerable residents with a continuum of care. After completing a cause-and-effect analysis, we implemented a solution involving increased outreach to health care institutions and saw annual participation increase in 3 out of 4 of our programs. We leveraged this work to successfully apply for funding to create a centralized referral system, which will facilitate partnerships among local health and human service agencies and improve access to services. This is one example of how accreditation has benefited our health department and our community. We have found that the accreditation process promotes a culture of quality and helps health departments identify and address areas for improvement.

Improving chocolate flavor in poor-quality cocoa almonds by enzymatic treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Hilana Salete Silva; Mamede, Maria Eugênia Oliveira; Góes-Neto, Aristóteles; Koblitz, Maria Gabriela Bello

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a method to enzymatically treat poor-quality cocoa almonds (known as "slate") to ensure the formation of chocolate flavor precursors. The production of flavor precursors improves the quality of these almonds, which are usually responsible for the low quality of the liquor produced. Proteases and carboxypeptidases from different sources were tested under various conditions. The different treatments were evaluated by chemical analysis (hydrolysis efficiency) and sensory analysis of the treated material compared to good-quality cocoa almonds. The results show that it is possible, through the use of microbial enzymes, to generate the mixture of compounds that will release, after roasting, the characteristic chocolate flavor in poor-quality almonds. However, it is necessary to optimize the conditions of enzymatic treatment to obtain better results and thus establish a process that can be used for industrial purposes for manufacturing cocoa and chocolate. The basidiomycete Moniliophtora perniciosa is the causative agent of witches' broom disease (WBD) of the cocoa tree, whose seeds are the source of chocolate. It is the most important phytopathological problem of cocoa-producing areas of the American continent, and has decimated the Brazilian cocoa industry. In Bahia (Brazil), M. perniciosa was identified in 1989 and, as a consequence of its spreading, the annual production of cocoa almonds dropped from 450,000 to 90,000 tons within 12 y, reducing export values from an all-time high of about US$ 1 billion to 110 million. The high incidence of WBD incapacitates Brazil to produce enough cocoa almonds even for the internal market, leading the country to import low-quality cocoa almonds mainly from African countries. Our work proposes an enzymatic treatment to increase the quality of that cocoa almonds and, consequently, to improve the quality of the chocolate produced and consumed in the country. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Idiopathic Parkinson's disease: vocal and quality of life analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiza Furtado e Silva

2012-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To compare voice and life quality of male patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, with individuals without disease (Control Group. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that evaluated the voice of individuals with Parkinson's disease, the group was composed of 27 subjects, aged from 39 to 79 years-old (average 59.96. The Control Group was matched on sex and age. Participants underwent voice recording. Perceptual evaluation was made using GRBASI scale, which considers G as the overall degree of dysphonia, R as roughness, B as breathiness, A as asthenia, S as strain and I as instability. The acoustic parameters analyzed were: fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic to noise ratio (NHR. For vocal self-perception analysis, we used the Voice Related Quality of Life protocol. RESULTS: Fundamental frequency and jitter presented higher values in the Parkinson's group. NHR values were higher in the Control Group. Perceptual analysis showed a deviation ranging. The vocal disorder self-perception demonstrated a worse impact on quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with Parkinson's disease have an altered voice quality and a negative impact on quality of life.

ISO certification pays off in quality improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vermeer, F.J.G.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that by obtaining and maintaining International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001 certification, a company can improve its quality control system, cut waste, and motivate its employees. In so doing it improves its competitive position in both international and domestic markets. The success of a number of countries (notably Japan) in the world markets has focused the attention of the industrialized countries on improving quality levels and striving for a unified, worldwide quality standard. This has been particularly true in Europe; with several countries competing in a single market, a common quality standard has been a highly desirable goal for decades. One of the first multinational quality standards evolved in the European Community, which is estimated to become a single market with a gross national product of $4.5 trillion by 1992. As a consequence, in 1987 the International Standards Organization created ISO 9000, a single standard to ensure uniform quality in products and services offered with this growing market. U.S. petroleum and natural gas companies must recognize and implement the ISO 9000 standards or possibly lose international markets. If the present worldwide trend towards ISO 9000 continues (and there is no reason to believe that it will not), the standards will be just as important in the domestic market

Investigating organizational quality improvement systems, patient empowerment, organizational culture, professional involvement and the quality of care in European hospitals: the 'Deepening our Understanding of Quality Improvement in Europe (DUQuE)' project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groene, O.; Klazinga, N.; Wagner, C.; Arah, O.A.; Thompson, A.; Bruneau, C.; Suñol, R.

2010-01-01

Hospitals in European countries apply a wide range of quality improvement strategies. Knowledge of the effectiveness of these strategies, implemented as part of an overall hospital quality improvement system, is limited. We propose to study the relationships among organisational quality improvement

Prioritizing quality improvement in general surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilling, Peter L; Dimick, Justin B; Birkmeyer, John D

2008-11-01

Despite growing interest in quality improvement, uncertainty remains about which procedures offer the most room for improvement in general surgery. In this context, we sought to describe the relative contribution of different procedures to overall morbidity, mortality, and excess length of stay in general surgery. Using data from the American College of Surgeons' National Surgery Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP), we identified all patients undergoing a general surgery procedure in 2005 and 2006 (n=129,233). Patients were placed in 36 distinct procedure groups based on Current Procedural Terminology codes. We first examined procedure groups according to their relative contribution to overall morbidity and mortality. We then assessed procedure groups according to their contribution to overall excess length of stay. Ten procedure groups alone accounted for 62% of complications and 54% of excess hospital days. Colectomy accounted for the greatest share of adverse events, followed by small intestine resection, inpatient cholecystectomy, and ventral hernia repair. In contrast, several common procedures contributed little to overall morbidity and mortality. For example, outpatient cholecystectomy, breast procedures, thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy, and outpatient inguinal hernia repair together accounted for 34% of procedures, but only 6% of complications (and only 4% of major complications). These same procedures accounted for surgery. Focusing quality improvement efforts on these procedures may be an effective strategy for improving patient care and reducing cost.

Quality Improvement Practices and Trends

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahlgaard, Jens J.; Hartz, Ove; Edgeman, Rick L.

1998-01-01

professor, as well as key individuals from various industries. In addition to the above activities, Rick will be working with the European Foundation for Quality Management on their "European Master's Programme in Total Quality Management." That program involves a consortium of European universities. Rick......The following article, "Quality Improvement Practices and Trends in Denmark," is the first in a series of papers arranged for and co-authored by Dr. Rick L. Edgeman. Rick is a member of QE's Editorial Board and is on sabbatical from Colorado State University. During the year, Rick and his family...... has begun the process of developing a comparable consortium of American universities for the same purpose-- an activity which is cosponsored by the Education Division of the American Society for Quality (ASQ)....

Impact of Cosmetic Camouflage on the Quality of Life of Children With Skin Disease and Their Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Salsberg, Jennifer M; Weinstein, Miriam; Shear, Neil; Lee, Michelle; Pope, Elena

2016-05-01

Cosmetic camouflage is known to improve quality of life in adults. Few data are available regarding cosmetic camouflage in children, and thus it is not often selected as a mode of treatment. We sought to determine whether cosmetic camouflage leads to improved quality of life of pediatric patients with visible dermatoses and their parent or primary caregiver. Patients aged 5 to 17 years with visible skin disease and their parent were assessed with the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and the Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) before and after consultation regarding cosmetic camouflage. Twenty-two children with skin conditions were included in the study. The mean CDLQI decreased from 6.82 (SD = 1.28) to 3.05 (SD = 0.65; P = .0014), while the mean FDLQI decreased from 7.68 (SD = 1.15) to 4.68 (SD = 0.92; P = .0012). Our study highlighted improvement in quality of life in patients with skin disorders who were managed with cosmetic camouflage. © The Author(s) 2015.

The quality improvement attitude survey: Development and preliminary psychometric characteristics.

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Dunagan, Pamela B

2017-12-01

To report the development of a tool to measure nurse's attitudes about quality improvement in their practice setting and to examine preliminary psychometric characteristics of the Quality Improvement Nursing Attitude Scale. Human factors such as nursing attitudes of complacency have been identified as root causes of sentinel events. Attitudes of nurses concerning use of Quality and Safety Education for nurse's competencies can be most challenging to teach and to change. No tool has been developed measuring attitudes of nurses concerning their role in quality improvement. A descriptive study design with preliminary psychometric evaluation was used to examine the preliminary psychometric characteristics of the Quality Improvement Nursing Attitude Scale. Registered bedside clinical nurses comprised the sample for the study (n = 57). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Cronbach's alpha reliability. Total score and individual item statistics were evaluated. Two open-ended items were used to collect statements about nurses' feelings regarding their experience in quality improvement efforts. Strong support for the internal consistency reliability and face validity of the Quality Improvement Nursing Attitude Scale was found. Total scale scores were high indicating nurse participants valued Quality and Safety Education for Nurse competencies in practice. However, item-level statistics indicated nurses felt powerless when other nurses deviate from care standards. Additionally, the sample indicated they did not consistently report patient safety issues and did not have a feeling of value in efforts to improve care. Findings suggested organisational culture fosters nurses' reporting safety issues and feeling valued in efforts to improve care. Participants' narrative comments and item analysis revealed the need to generate new items for the Quality Improvement Nursing Attitude Scale focused on nurses' perception of their importance in quality and

What affects the quality of life in autoimmune Addison's disease?

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Meyer, G; Hackemann, A; Penna-Martinez, M; Badenhoop, K

2013-02-01

Several studies have shown a reduced quality of life in patients with Addison's disease, but little is known about the potential influences. We determined the quality of life in 200 patients with Addison's disease using an Addison's disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire. Data about first symptoms, time to diagnosis and current medication were collected by questionnaires. With increasing latency between first symptoms and diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency, the quality of life decreased in highly significant manner (pdisease (p=0.05), atrophic gastritis (p=0.01) and primary ovarian failure (p=0.01) were highly correlated with reduced scores. Quality of life was significantly lower in female patients and in those with manifestation at older ages. With more autoimmune comorbidities, the quality of life scores dropped. The most important factor, however, was latency between first symptoms and diagnosis that affected patients' quality of life even years after manifestation of the disease. These results confirm and extend previous observations and emphasize the importance of a timely diagnosis. Therefore, medical awareness for this rare but easily treatable disorder needs to be sharpened. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

An integrated approach to hospital strategic planning, quality assurance, and continuous quality improvement.

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Day, G; Gardner, S; Herba, C

1995-01-01

Like many other healthcare organizations today, the authors' facility, a 306-bed acute care community hospital in Michigan, strives to visualize and make a transition from traditional quality assurance to continuous quality improvement. The Juran Trilogy provided the insight that strategic planning, measurement, and continuous improvement must exist side by side. At the authors' facility, this realization resulted in the hospital quality plan, which treats each of these components as part of the foundation for quality. The authors explain this model and the reporting and communication mechanisms that support it.

Mitochondrial quality control in cardiac diseases.

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Juliane Campos

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Disruption of mitochondrial homeostasis is a hallmark of cardiac diseases. Therefore, maintenance of mitochondrial integrity through different surveillance mechanisms is critical for cardiomyocyte survival. In this review, we discuss the most recent findings on the central role of mitochondrial quality control processes including regulation of mitochondrial redox balance, aldehyde metabolism, proteostasis, dynamics and clearance in cardiac diseases, highlighting their potential as therapeutic targets.

Context in Quality of Care: Improving Teamwork and Resilience.

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Tawfik, Daniel S; Sexton, John Bryan; Adair, Kathryn C; Kaplan, Heather C; Profit, Jochen

2017-09-01

Quality improvement in health care is an ongoing challenge. Consideration of the context of the health care system is of paramount importance. Staff resilience and teamwork climate are key aspects of context that drive quality. Teamwork climate is dynamic, with well-established tools available to improve teamwork for specific tasks or global applications. Similarly, burnout and resilience can be modified with interventions such as cultivating gratitude, positivity, and awe. A growing body of literature has shown that teamwork and burnout relate to quality of care, with improved teamwork and decreased burnout expected to produce improved patient quality and safety. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Disease-specific health-related quality of life in patients with esophageal achalasia before and after therapy.

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Garrigues, V; Ortiz, V; Casanova, C; Bujanda, L; Moreno-Osset, E; Rodríguez-Téllez, M; Montserrat, A; Brotons, A; Fort, E; Ponce, J

2010-07-01

To evaluate disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with symptomatic esophageal achalasia before and after therapy. Symptoms and disease-specific HRQoL were evaluated before and 3 months after therapy. Therapy selection, either dilatation or myotomy, depended exclusively on the opinion of the physician on charge of the patient. Symptom severity was graded from 0 to 3, using a scoring system. A disease-specific questionnaire for achalasia developed and validated in Spanish language with 18 items and four subscales (AE-18) was used to evaluate HRQoL. Changes after therapy in HRQoL and its association with clinical improvement were analyzed. Sixty-five patients were prospectively included in eight hospitals in Spain. Of them, 47 were treated with dilatation, and 18 with laparoscopic Heller myotomy. After therapy, AE-18 global and subscales scores improved significantly. Changes in HRQoL were associated with improvement in symptoms. An important improvement in symptoms (>or=50%) was needed to obtain a minimal clinically important improvement (>or=20%) in HRQoL. Disease-specific HRQoL improves in patients with symptomatic achalasia after therapy with dilatation or myotomy. The degree of improvement of HRQoL depends on the degree of improvement of esophageal symptoms.

Quality improvement teaching at medical school: a student perspective

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Nair, Pooja; Barai, Ishani; Prasad, Sunila; Gadhvi, Karishma

2016-01-01

Pooja Nair, Ishani Barai, Sunila Prasad, Karishma Gadhvi Department of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK Abstract: Guidelines in the UK require all doctors to actively take part in quality improvement. To ease future doctors into the process, formal quality improvement teaching can be delivered during medical school. Keywords: quality improvement, medical school, patient safety, patient satisfaction, medical student, clinical audit

Quality of Life and Nutrition Condition of Patients Improve Under Home Parenteral Nutrition: An Exploratory Study.

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Girke, Jutta; Seipt, Claudia; Markowski, Andrea; Luettig, Birgit; Schettler, Anika; Momma, Michael; Schneider, Andrea S

2016-10-01

Patients with end-stage cancer and advanced chronic bowel disease are often malnourished, which has a negative effect on patients' outcome, well-being, and activity. It is inconclusive whether these patients benefit from home parenteral nutrition. This prospective exploratory study investigates its influence on nutrition state, muscle strength, mobility, and quality of life. Patients ≥18 years old with an indication for home parenteral nutrition were included and followed for 2-24 months. Nutrition parameters, activity, and quality of life were assessed. Forty-eight patients participated (mean age 11.5 years), and 85% were severely malnourished (subjective global assessment score, class C). Four weeks after parenteral nutrition, patients with tumors demonstrated a deterioration in phase angle (from 3.9 to 3.4) and extracellular mass:body cell mass ratio (from 1.6 to 2.1), while patients with bowel disease improved (from 3.4 to 4.0 and 2.1 to 1.6, respectively); grip strength remained constant in both groups (difference: 1.11 and -2.11, respectively). Activity improved in patients with bowel disease but stayed the same in the tumor group (P = .02 and P = .33, respectively). When the groups were pooled, emotional and social functioning domain scores (P parenteral nutrition. Both groups seem to benefit from home parenteral nutrition without harmful side effects. If the indication is determined early, the patients' disease course could perhaps be improved. © 2016 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Progress and challenges in improving the nutritional quality of rice (Oryza sativa L.).

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Birla, Deep Shikha; Malik, Kapil; Sainger, Manish; Chaudhary, Darshna; Jaiwal, Ranjana; Jaiwal, Pawan K

2017-07-24

Rice is a staple food for more than 3 billion people in more than 100 countries of the world but ironically it is deficient in many bioavailable vitamins, minerals, essential amino- and fatty-acids and phytochemicals that prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and obesity. To enhance the nutritional and other quality aspects of rice, a better understanding of the regulation of the processes involved in the synthesis, uptake, transport, and metabolism of macro-(starch, seed storage protein and lipid) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals) is required. With the publication of high quality genomic sequence of rice, significant progress has been made in identification, isolation, and characterization of novel genes and their regulation for the nutritional and quality enhancement of rice. During the last decade, numerous efforts have been made to refine the nutritional and other quality traits either by using the traditional breeding with high through put technologies such as marker assisted selection and breeding, or by adopting the transgenic approach. A significant improvement in vitamins (A, folate, and E), mineral (iron), essential amino acid (lysine), and flavonoids levels has been achieved in the edible part of rice, i.e., endosperm (biofortification) to meet the daily dietary allowance. However, studies on bioavailability and allergenicity on biofortified rice are still required. Despite the numerous efforts, the commercialization of biofortified rice has not yet been achieved. The present review summarizes the progress and challenges of genetic engineering and/or metabolic engineering technologies to improve rice grain quality, and presents the future prospects in developing nutrient dense rice to save the everincreasing population, that depends solely on rice as the staple food, from widespread nutritional deficiencies.

How to Sustain Change and Support Continuous Quality Improvement.

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Silver, Samuel A; McQuillan, Rory; Harel, Ziv; Weizman, Adam V; Thomas, Alison; Nesrallah, Gihad; Bell, Chaim M; Chan, Christopher T; Chertow, Glenn M

2016-05-06

To achieve sustainable change, quality improvement initiatives must become the new way of working rather than something added on to routine clinical care. However, most organizational change is not maintained. In this next article in this Moving Points in Nephrology feature on quality improvement, we provide health care professionals with strategies to sustain and support quality improvement. Threats to sustainability may be identified both at the beginning of a project and when it is ready for implementation. The National Health Service Sustainability Model is reviewed as one example to help identify issues that affect long-term success of quality improvement projects. Tools to help sustain improvement include process control boards, performance boards, standard work, and improvement huddles. Process control and performance boards are methods to communicate improvement results to staff and leadership. Standard work is a written or visual outline of current best practices for a task and provides a framework to ensure that changes that have improved patient care are consistently and reliably applied to every patient encounter. Improvement huddles are short, regular meetings among staff to anticipate problems, review performance, and support a culture of improvement. Many of these tools rely on principles of visual management, which are systems transparent and simple so that every staff member can rapidly distinguish normal from abnormal working conditions. Even when quality improvement methods are properly applied, the success of a project still depends on contextual factors. Context refers to aspects of the local setting in which the project operates. Context affects resources, leadership support, data infrastructure, team motivation, and team performance. For these reasons, the same project may thrive in a supportive context and fail in a different context. To demonstrate the practical applications of these quality improvement principles, these principles are

A Nephrology Fellows' Communication Skills Course: An Educational Quality Improvement Report.

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Cohen, Robert A; Jackson, Vicki A; Norwich, Diana; Schell, Jane O; Schaefer, Kristen; Ship, Amy N; Sullivan, Amy M

2016-08-01

Nephrology fellows need expertise navigating challenging conversations with patients throughout the course of advanced kidney disease. However, evidence shows that nephrologists receive inadequate training in this area. This study assessed the effectiveness of an educational quality improvement intervention designed to enhance fellows' communication with patients who have advanced kidney disease. Quality improvement project. Full-day annual workshops (2013-2014) using didactics, discussion, and practice with simulated patients. Content focused on delivering bad news, acknowledging emotion, discussing care goals in dialysis decision making when prognosis is uncertain, and addressing dialysis therapy withdrawal and end of life. Participants were first-year nephrology fellows from 2 Harvard-affiliated training programs (N=26). Study assessed the effectiveness of an intervention designed to enhance fellows' communication skills. Primary outcomes were changes in self-reported patient communication skills, attitudes, and behaviors related to discussing disease progression, prognostic uncertainty, dialysis therapy withdrawal, treatments not indicated, and end of life; responding to emotion; eliciting patient goals and values; and incorporating patient goals into recommendations. Surveys measured prior training, pre- and postcourse perceived changes in skills and values, and reported longer term (3-month) changes in communication behaviors, using both closed- and open-ended items. Response rates were 100% (pre- and postsurveys) and 68% (follow-up). Participants reported improvement in all domains, with an overall mean increase of 1.1 (summed average scores: precourse, 2.8; postcourse, 3.9 [1-5 scale; 5 = "extremely well prepared"]; Pskills taught, such as "Ask-Tell-Ask" and using open-ended questions. Self-reported data may overestimate actual changes; small sample size and the programs' affiliation with a single medical school may limit generalizability. A day

The process of managerial control in quality improvement initiatives.

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Slovensky, D J; Fottler, M D

1994-11-01

The fundamental intent of strategic management is to position an organization with in its market to exploit organizational competencies and strengths to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage may be achieved through such strategies as low cost, high quality, or unique services or products. For health care organizations accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, continually improving both processes and outcomes of organizational performance--quality improvement--in all operational areas of the organization is a mandated strategy. Defining and measuring quality and controlling the quality improvement strategy remain problematic. The article discusses the nature and processes of managerial control, some potential measures of quality, and related information needs.

Impact of oral diseases on quality of life in subjects attending out-patient department of a dental hospital, India

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N Saimadhavi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Currently there is a growing interest in oral health outcomes in how oral health affects quality of life. When oral health related quality of life measures are used alongside traditional clinical methods of measuring oral health status, a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of oral diseases on the several dimensions of subjective wellbeing becomes possible. In this context, we attempted to study the impact of oral diseases on quality of life, so as to address the patient′s needs in an appropriate way and thereby improving one′s quality of life. Aims: To evaluate the impact of different oral diseases on quality of life using a modified OHIP-14 questionnaire, so as to address the patient′s needs in an appropriate way and thereby improving one′s quality of life. Settings and Design: The study was carried out among 302 subjects, attending the outpatient department a dental hospital, India, for check up and treatment of their oral condition. Subjects aged above 20 years, who gave their consent for the study were included. Materials and Methods: The study sample was categorized in to two groups based upon the duration of the affecting disease - group 1 consisted of subjects suffering with chronic diseases and group 2 of subjects suffering with acute diseases. All the subjects were asked to fill up their responses in the given OHIP-14 questionnaires. The completed questionnaires were then collected and statistically analyzed. Statistical Analysis Used: To evaluate the role of age on QOL, age was divided in to 2 groups using median split procedure. For inter and intragroup comparisions, independent sample t test, anova followed by post hoc test and Chi-square tests were employed. Results: Chi square test revealed a moderately impaired quality of life among all the diseases investigated. On comparing the mean domain and total OHIP score between the two groups, the domain of psychological discomfort and disability and the total

Strategies to improve quality of childbirth care

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farahnaz Changaee

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Access to affordable and quality health care is one of the most important ways for reducing maternal and child mortality. The purpose of this study was to provide strategies to promote the quality of care during childbirth in Lorestan province in 2011. Materials and Methods: This research was a mixed method (quantitative, qualitative, study in which quality of 200 care during childbirth in hospitals of Lorestan Province were evaluated. Data gathered through self-made tools (Checklists prepared according to the guidelines of the ministry of health. Descriptive statistics and SPSS software were used to data analysis.In the second part of the study which was qualitative, interview with service providers, hospital officials and high-ranking officials of Lorestan university of medical sciences (decision makers was used to discuss strategies to improve the quality of care. Results: The results showed that the care of the first stage delivery in %54.5, second stage %57 and third stage 66% were in accordance with the desired status and care in this three stages was of moderate quality. Based on the interviews, the officials who are in charge of Lorestan university of medical sciences, proposed strategies such as financial incentives and in-service training of midwives as suitable strategies to improve quality of services. Conclusion: According to the results, strategies such as financial incentives, increased use of private sector services to reduce the workload of the public sector and increase of quality and use of more in-service training, to improve the quality of services, are recommended.

Quality of Life and Congenital Heart Disease in Childhood and Adolescence

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Bertoletti, Juliana [Instituto de Cardiologia/Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia - IC/FUC, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Marx, Giovana Caroline; Hattge, Sérgio Pedro Júnior [Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Pellanda, Lucia Campos, E-mail: lupellanda@gmail.com [Instituto de Cardiologia/Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia - IC/FUC, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil)

2014-02-15

Advances in cardiac surgery techniques and early diagnosis have enabled the increased survival of individuals with congenital heart disease. The investigation of the quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease provides complementary information to clinical data that can assist in decision making on the part of health professionals. Although many studies have been conducted to investigate the quality of life of children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, the results prove to be contradictory; while some studies show that congenital heart disease can impact the quality of life, others describe a better perception of quality of life among children and adolescents who suffer from the disease when compared with healthy control subjects. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the assessment of health related quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, in order to systematize the existing knowledge on this topic today. It is observed that research seeks to investigate aspects of personality in cardiac patients, their coping strategies used and perceived social support, aiming at better understanding the association of these variables with the level of quality of life in this population.

Quality of Life and Congenital Heart Disease in Childhood and Adolescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertoletti, Juliana; Marx, Giovana Caroline; Hattge, Sérgio Pedro Júnior; Pellanda, Lucia Campos

2014-01-01

Advances in cardiac surgery techniques and early diagnosis have enabled the increased survival of individuals with congenital heart disease. The investigation of the quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease provides complementary information to clinical data that can assist in decision making on the part of health professionals. Although many studies have been conducted to investigate the quality of life of children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, the results prove to be contradictory; while some studies show that congenital heart disease can impact the quality of life, others describe a better perception of quality of life among children and adolescents who suffer from the disease when compared with healthy control subjects. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the assessment of health related quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, in order to systematize the existing knowledge on this topic today. It is observed that research seeks to investigate aspects of personality in cardiac patients, their coping strategies used and perceived social support, aiming at better understanding the association of these variables with the level of quality of life in this population

Does Medical Malpractice Law Improve Health Care Quality?

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Frakes, Michael; Jena, Anupam B.

2016-01-01

We assess the potential for medical liability forces to deter medical errors and improve health care treatment quality, identifying liability’s influence by drawing on variations in the manner by which states formulate the negligence standard facing physicians. Using hospital discharge records from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and clinically-validated quality metrics inspired by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, we find evidence suggesting that treatment quality may improve upon reforms that expect physicians to adhere to higher quality clinical standards. We do not find evidence, however, suggesting that treatment quality may deteriorate following reforms to liability standards that arguably condone the delivery of lower quality care. Similarly, we do not find evidence of deterioration in health care quality following remedy-focused liability reforms such as caps on non-economic damages awards. PMID:28479642

Quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease in the context of professional work and physiotherapy

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Joanna Cholewa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Of many diseases and disorders of the nervous system Parkinson’s disease (PD deserves a particular attention for its specific effects having an impact on the ability to undertake different forms of professional and economic activities. Due to the constantly growing incidence rate and the lowering age of patients, PD is becoming more and more serious social problem. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of professional work and physiotherapy on the quality of live in people with Parkinson’s disease. Material and Methods: The research was carried out on 109 people with diagnosed PD of stage II according to the Hoehn and Yahr classification. They were divided into professionally working and non-working subjects and those participating and not participating in physiotherapy programs. The Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS, was used to estimate the patients’ clinical status. The Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39, the Quality of Life Short Form (SF-36 Questionnaire and the Parkinson’s Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQL were used to estimate the quality of life. Results: In all groups statistically significant differences were observed in each of the used scale. The PDQ-39 (F = 5.278, p = 0.04, SF physical component (F = 4.24, p = 0.005, SF mental component (F = 3.45, p = 0.021, PDQL (F = 6.57, p = 0.003. The highest quality of life was noticed in people working professionally and participating in physiotherapy programs. Conclusions: Professional activity and participation in properly planned physiotherapy help reduce the symptoms and improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease. The study showed that the quality of life of people with PD is determined by professional work and participation in the process of rehabilitation. Med Pr 2017;68(6:725–734

Quality improvement teaching at medical school: a student perspective

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Nair P

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Pooja Nair, Ishani Barai, Sunila Prasad, Karishma Gadhvi Department of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK Abstract: Guidelines in the UK require all doctors to actively take part in quality improvement. To ease future doctors into the process, formal quality improvement teaching can be delivered during medical school. Keywords: quality improvement, medical school, patient safety, patient satisfaction, medical student, clinical audit

Quality Improvement Processes in Obesity Surgery Lead to Higher Quality and Value, Lower Costs.

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Brousseau, Holli; Pohl, Dieter

2017-03-01

In the era of changes in the evaluation of medical services and performance, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has determined that the key components are quality, value, and clinical practice improvement (MACRA). Weight Loss Surgery, also called Bariatric or Obesity Surgery, has been at the forefront of quality improvement and quality reporting through the Center of Excellence Program since 2005. As a result, weight loss surgery is now as safe as gallbladder surgery.1 Even within this culture of quality and safety, improvements are still possible, as described in this article. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-03.asp].

Integrating empowerment evaluation and quality improvement to achieve healthcare improvement outcomes.

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Wandersman, Abraham; Alia, Kassandra Ann; Cook, Brittany; Ramaswamy, Rohit

2015-10-01

While the body of evidence-based healthcare interventions grows, the ability of health systems to deliver these interventions effectively and efficiently lags behind. Quality improvement approaches, such as the model for improvement, have demonstrated some success in healthcare but their impact has been lessened by implementation challenges. To help address these challenges, we describe the empowerment evaluation approach that has been developed by programme evaluators and a method for its application (Getting To Outcomes (GTO)). We then describe how GTO can be used to implement healthcare interventions. An illustrative healthcare quality improvement example that compares the model for improvement and the GTO method for reducing hospital admissions through improved diabetes care is described. We conclude with suggestions for integrating GTO and the model for improvement. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Approaching the Practice Quality Improvement Project in Interventional Radiology.

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Reis, Stephen P; White, Benjamin; Sutphin, Patrick D; Pillai, Anil K; Kalva, Sanjeeva P; Toomay, Seth M

2015-12-01

An important component of maintenance of certification and quality improvement in radiology is the practice quality improvement (PQI) project. In this article, the authors describe several methodologies for initiating and completing PQI projects. Furthermore, the authors illustrate several tools that are vital in compiling, analyzing, and presenting data in an easily understandable and reproducible manner. Last, they describe two PQI projects performed in an interventional radiology division that have successfully improved the quality of care for patients. Using the DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) quality improvement framework, interventional radiology throughput has been increased, to lessen mediport wait times from 43 to 8 days, and mediport infection rates have decreased from more than 2% to less than 0.4%. Copyright © 2015 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Novel Mesh Quality Improvement Method for Boundary Elements

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Hou-lin Liu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the boundary mesh quality while maintaining the essential characteristics of discrete surfaces, a new approach combining optimization-based smoothing and topology optimization is developed. The smoothing objective function is modified, in which two functions denoting boundary and interior quality, respectively, and a weight coefficient controlling boundary quality are taken into account. In addition, the existing smoothing algorithm can improve the mesh quality only by repositioning vertices of the interior mesh. Without destroying boundary conformity, bad elements with all their vertices on the boundary cannot be eliminated. Then, topology optimization is employed, and those elements are converted into other types of elements whose quality can be improved by smoothing. The practical application shows that the worst elements can be eliminated and, with the increase of weight coefficient, the average quality of boundary mesh can also be improved. Results obtained with the combined approach are compared with some common approach. It is clearly shown that it performs better than the existing approach.

Systematic Quality Improvement in Medicine: Everyone Can Do It

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Mark L. Zeidel

2011-07-01

Full Text Available In this brief review, written from the perspective of a physician-leader who has fostered the development of comprehensive quality improvement efforts at two academic medical centers, I review the need for improvement, some conceptual barriers that must be overcome, the goals of a comprehensive quality improvement (QI effort, some of the results we have obtained, and some observations on how to develop a culture of continuous improvement in an academic medical center. The mandate for quality improvement is clear; current healthcare is wasteful and error-prone, leading to excessive morbidity and mortality and unsustainably high costs. Successful quality improvement requires the abandonment of two paradigms: the craft model of medical practice and the notion that many forms of harm to patients are not preventable. I will describe how dramatic improvement has been achieved in reducing, by up to 10-fold, rates of central line infections, ventilator-associated pneumonias, peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients, and mortality due to cardiac arrest in hospital. I will describe as well how these methods can improve access to out-patient clinics dramatically and enhance the reliability and safety of hand-offs between covering physicians. To develop and maintain systematic quality improvement in all phases of medical care we must articulate a culture in which: everyone working at the medical center makes improvements every day; front-line staff, who know best how the work is done, are empowered to improve the processes of care; and multidisciplinary teams create the protocols that reduce variation that is due to physician preference, leaving only the variation required by the individual needs of patients. I will review as well the crucial elements of education of trainees and faculty members needed to guide and sustain a culture of quality. Finally, I will add some observations on how oversight boards and medical center leaders can help create

Systematic quality improvement in medicine: everyone can do it.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeidel, Mark L

2011-07-01

In this brief review, written from the perspective of a physician-leader who has fostered the development of comprehensive quality improvement efforts at two academic medical centers, I review the need for improvement, some conceptual barriers that must be overcome, the goals of a comprehensive quality improvement (QI) effort, some of the results we have obtained, and some observations on how to develop a culture of continuous improvement in an academic medical center. The mandate for quality improvement is clear; current healthcare is wasteful and error-prone, leading to excessive morbidity and mortality and unsustainably high costs. Successful quality improvement requires the abandonment of two paradigms: the craft model of medical practice and the notion that many forms of harm to patients are not preventable. I will describe how dramatic improvement has been achieved in reducing, by up to 10-fold, rates of central line infections, ventilator-associated pneumonias, peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients, and mortality due to cardiac arrest in hospital. I will describe as well how these methods can improve access to out-patient clinics dramatically and enhance the reliability and safety of hand-offs between covering physicians. To develop and maintain systematic quality improvement in all phases of medical care we must articulate a culture in which: everyone working at the medical center makes improvements every day; front-line staff, who know best how the work is done, are empowered to improve the processes of care; and multidisciplinary teams create the protocols that reduce variation that is due to physician preference, leaving only the variation required by the individual needs of patients. I will review as well the crucial elements of education of trainees and faculty members needed to guide and sustain a culture of quality. Finally, I will add some observations on how oversight boards and medical center leaders can help create systematic quality

Accounting for quality: on the relationship between accounting and quality improvement in healthcare.

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Pflueger, Dane

2015-04-23

Accounting-that is, standardized measurement, public reporting, performance evaluation and managerial control-is commonly seen to provide the core infrastructure for quality improvement in healthcare. Yet, accounting successfully for quality has been a problematic endeavor, often producing dysfunctional effects. This has raised questions about the appropriate role for accounting in achieving quality improvement. This paper contributes to this debate by contrasting the specific way in which accounting is understood and operationalized for quality improvement in the UK National Health Service (NHS) with findings from the broadly defined 'social studies of accounting' literature and illustrative examples. This paper highlights three significant differences between the way that accounting is understood to operate in the dominant health policy discourse and recent healthcare reforms, and in the social studies of accounting literature. It shows that accounting does not just find things out, but makes them up. It shows that accounting is not simply a matter of substance, but of style. And it shows that accounting does not just facilitate, but displaces, control. The illumination of these differences in the way that accounting is conceptualized helps to diagnose why accounting interventions often fail to produce the quality improvements that were envisioned. This paper concludes that accounting is not necessarily incompatible with the ambition of quality improvement, but that it would need to be understood and operationalized in new ways in order to contribute to this end. Proposals for this new way of advancing accounting are discussed. They include the cultivation of overlapping and even conflicting measures of quality, the evaluation of accounting regimes in terms of what they do to practice, and the development of distinctively skeptical calculative cultures.

40 CFR 64.8 - Quality improvement plan (QIP) requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Quality improvement plan (QIP... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE MONITORING § 64.8 Quality improvement plan (QIP) requirements. (a.... (iii) Appropriate improvements to control methods. (iv) Other steps appropriate to correct control...

Nuts Improve Diet Quality Compared to Other Energy-Dense Snacks While Maintaining Body Weight

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Siew Ling Tey

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have reported that regular nut consumption reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD risk and does not promote weight gain despite the fact that nuts are energy-dense. However, no studies have investigated the body composition of those regularly consuming nuts compared to similar intakes of other snacks of equal energy density. This parallel study (n = 118 examined the effects of providing daily portions (~1100 kJ/d of hazelnuts, chocolate, or potato crisps compared to a control group receiving no snacks for twelve weeks. Effects on body weight and composition, blood lipids and lipoproteins, resting metabolic rate (RMR, appetite indices, and dietary quality were compared. At week 12, there was no significant difference in any of the outcome measurements between the groups except for dietary quality, which improved significantly in the nut group. Nuts can be incorporated into the diet without adversely affecting body weight and can improve diet quality.

Improving embryo quality in assisted reproduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mantikou, E.

2013-01-01

The goal of this thesis was to improve embryo quality in assisted reproductive technologies by gaining more insight into human preimplantation embryo development and by improving in vitro culture conditions. To do so, we investigated an intriguing feature of the human preimplantation embryo, i.e.

Sleep Quality Improvement During Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders.

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Ramsawh, Holly J; Bomyea, Jessica; Stein, Murray B; Cissell, Shadha H; Lang, Ariel J

2016-01-01

Despite the ubiquity of sleep complaints among individuals with anxiety disorders, few prior studies have examined whether sleep quality improves during anxiety treatment. The current study examined pre- to posttreatment sleep quality improvement during cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic disorder (PD; n = 26) or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n = 24). Among sleep quality indices, only global sleep quality and sleep latency improved significantly (but modestly) during CBT. Sleep quality improvement was greater for treatment responders, but did not vary by diagnosis. Additionally, poor baseline sleep quality was independently associated with worse anxiety treatment outcome, as measured by higher intolerance of uncertainty. Additional intervention targeting sleep prior to or during CBT for anxiety may be beneficial for poor sleepers.

Voltage Quality Improvement Using Solar Photovoltaic Systems

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Denisa Galzina

2015-06-01

This paper briefly shows the methods of power quality improvement, and then the results of on-site power quality measurements in the grid before and after the connection of the solar photovoltaic system.

INFLUENCE OF GRADED AEROBIC EXERCISE ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN POST SURGICAL MITRAL VALVE DISEASE INDIVIDUAL A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED OPEN LABEL STUDY

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Shanthi C

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Post surgical mitral valve disease individual focus their cardiac rehabilitation training on two major goal that is to improve cardiac output response exercises and place an important role in determining exercise tolerance and to improve quality of life. Cardiac rehabilitation programs involve prescribed exercise and education however various other method are being used to improve quality of life. But our study to find out the effectiveness of graded aerobic exercise protocol on ejection fraction and quality of life in post surgical mitral valve disease individuals. Methods: The study design was open label studies total of 100 post surgical mitral valve disease individuals patients from the age group of 20-60 years were recruited from SVIMS hospital. They were randomly divided into two groups. Group I underwent a twelve week structured graded individually tailored exercises. The group II received only none graded (not individualized exercise training. The ejection fraction and quality of life was measured before and after 12 weeks of exercise training for two groups. Results: Repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare mean values of continuous variables between baseline and at the time of discharge and three months after surgery for each parameter. Comparison of means between groups was done by the unpaired student t test. Mean age of the subjects was 40.18±10.29. There was a significant increase in the ejection fraction in the group I(61.34±2.49 to 64.4±3.31 compared to with the group II (61.06±2.51. to 61.62 ±2.37. QOL had improved in group I than group II at p<0.05. Conclusion: A 12 week structured graded aerobic exercise training significantly improved ejection fraction and quality of life in post surgical mitral valve disease individuals.

Quality improvement in clinical documentation: does clinical governance work?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dehghan M

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Mahlegha Dehghan,1 Dorsa Dehghan,2 Akbar Sheikhrabori,3 Masoume Sadeghi,4 Mehrdad Jalalian5 1Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, 2Department of Pediatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Islamic Azad University Kerman Branch, Kerman, 3Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, 4Research Center for Modeling in Health, Institute of Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, 5Electronic Physician Journal, Mashhad, Iran Introduction: The quality of nursing documentation is still a challenge in the nursing profession and, thus, in the health care industry. One major quality improvement program is clinical governance, whose mission is to continuously improve the quality of patient care and overcome service quality problems. The aim of this study was to identify whether clinical governance improves the quality of nursing documentation. Methods: A quasi-experimental method was used to show nursing documentation quality improvement after a 2-year clinical governance implementation. Two hundred twenty random nursing documents were assessed structurally and by content using a valid and reliable researcher made checklist. Results: There were no differences between a nurse's demographic data before and after 2 years (P>0.05 and the nursing documentation score did not improve after a 2-year clinical governance program. Conclusion: Although some efforts were made to improve nursing documentation through clinical governance, these were not sufficient and more attempts are needed. Keywords: nursing documentation, clinical governance, quality improvement, nursing record

Quality improvement tools and processes.

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Lau, Catherine Y

2015-04-01

The Model for Improvement and the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle is a popular quality improvement (QI) tool for health care providers to successfully lead QI projects and redesign care processes. This tool has several distinct components that must be addressed in sequence to organize and critically evaluate improvement activities. Unlike other health sciences clinical research, QI projects and research are based on dynamic hypotheses that develop into observable, serial tests of change with continuous collection and feedback of performance data to stakeholders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rubber stamp templates for improving clinical documentation: A paper-based, m-Health approach for quality improvement in low-resource settings.

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Kleczka, Bernadette; Musiega, Anita; Rabut, Grace; Wekesa, Phoebe; Mwaniki, Paul; Marx, Michael; Kumar, Pratap

2018-06-01

information with no counterparts in templates (e.g. notes on presenting complaints, vital signs). Documentation scores for each patient were compared between both pre- and post-intervention periods and between encounters documented with and without templates (post-intervention only). The total number of patient encounters in the pre-intervention (282) and post-intervention periods (264) did not differ. Mean documentation scores increased significantly in the post-intervention period on average by 21%, 24% and 17% for hypertension, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, respectively. Differences were greater (47%, 43% and 27%, respectively) when documentation with and without templates was compared. Changes between pre- vs.post-intervention, and with vs.without template, varied between individual dimensions of documentation. Overall, documentation improved more for general data and patient assessment than in testing or management. The use of templates improves paper-based documentation of patient care, a first step towards improving the quality of care. Rubber stamps provide a simple and low-cost method to print templates on demand. In combination with ubiquitously available mobile phones, information entered on paper can be easily and rapidly digitized. This 'frugal innovation' in m-Health can empower small, private sector facilities, where large numbers of urban patients seek healthcare, to generate digital data on routine outpatient care. These data can form the basis for evidence-based quality improvement efforts at large scale, and help deliver on the SDG promise of quality essential healthcare services for all. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving the quality of nurse clinical documentation for chronic patients at primary care clinics: A multifaceted intervention.

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Mahomed, Ozayr H; Naidoo, Salsohni; Asmall, Shaidah; Taylor, Myra

2015-09-25

Deficiencies in record keeping practices have been reported at primary care level in the public health sector in South Africa. These deficiencies have the potential to negatively impact patient health outcomes as the break in information may hinder continuity of care. This disruption in information management has particular relevance for patients with chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to establish if the implementation of a structured clinical record (SCR) as an adjunct tool to the algorithmic guidelines for chronic disease management improved the quality of clinical records at primary care level. A quasi-experimental study (before and after study with a comparison group) was conducted across 30 primary health care clinics (PHCs) located in three districts in South Africa. Twenty PHCs that received the intervention were selected as intervention clinics and 10 facilities were selected as comparison facilities. The lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) method was used to determine the number of records required to be reviewed per diagnostic condition per facility. There was a a statistically significant increase in the percentage of clinical records achieving compliance to the minimum criteria from the baseline to six months post-intervention for both HIV patients on antiretroviral treatment and patients with non-communicable diseases (hypertension and diabetes). A multifaceted intervention using a SCR to supplement the educational outreach component (PC 101 training) has demonstrated the potential for improving the quality of clinical records for patients with chronic diseases at primary care clinics in South Africa.

Cost-Effective Adjustments to Nursing Home Staffing to Improve Quality.

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Bowblis, John R; Roberts, Amy Restorick

2018-06-01

Health care providers face fixed reimbursement rates from government sources and need to carefully adjust staffing to achieve the highest quality within a given cost structure. With data from the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (1999-2015), this study holistically examined how staffing levels affect two publicly reported measures of quality in the nursing home industry, the number of deficiency citations and the deficiency score. While higher staffing consistently yielded better quality, the largest quality improvements resulted from increasing administrative registered nurses and social service staffing. After adjusting for wages, the most cost-effective investment for improving overall deficiency outcomes was increasing social services. Deficiencies related to quality of care were improved most by increasing administrative nursing and social service staff. Quality of life deficiencies were improved most by increasing social service and activities staff. Approaches to improve quality through staffing adjustments should target specific types of staff to maximize return on investment.

Quality Improvement in Athletic Health Care.

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Lopes Sauers, Andrea D; Sauers, Eric L; Valier, Alison R Snyder

2017-11-01

  Quality improvement (QI) is a health care concept that ensures patients receive high-quality (safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, patient-centered) and affordable care. Despite its importance, the application of QI in athletic health care has been limited.   To describe the need for and define QI in health care, to describe how to measure quality in health care, and to present a QI case in athletic training.   As the athletic training profession continues to grow, a widespread engagement in QI efforts is necessary to establish the value of athletic training services for the patients that we serve. A review of the importance of QI in health care, historical perspectives of QI, tools to drive QI efforts, and examples of common QI initiatives is presented to assist clinicians in better understanding the value of QI for advancing athletic health care and the profession. Clinical and Research Advantages:  By engaging clinicians in strategies to measure outcomes and improve their patient care services, QI practice can help athletic trainers provide high-quality and affordable care to patients.

Transferring skills in quality collaboratives focused on improving patient logistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.W.M. Weggelaar-Jansen (Anne Marie); J.D.H. van Wijngaarden (Jeroen)

2018-01-01

textabstractA quality improvement collaborative, often used by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is used to educate healthcare professionals and improve healthcare at the same time. Our research focused on quality improvement collaboratives aiming to improve patient logistics and tried to

Development and implementation of the Caribbean Laboratory Quality Management Systems Stepwise Improvement Process (LQMS-SIP) Towards Accreditation.

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Alemnji, George; Edghill, Lisa; Guevara, Giselle; Wallace-Sankarsingh, Sacha; Albalak, Rachel; Cognat, Sebastien; Nkengasong, John; Gabastou, Jean-Marc

2017-01-01

Implementing quality management systems and accrediting laboratories in the Caribbean has been a challenge. We report the development of a stepwise process for quality systems improvement in the Caribbean Region. The Caribbean Laboratory Stakeholders met under a joint Pan American Health Organization/US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiative and developed a user-friendly framework called 'Laboratory Quality Management System - Stepwise Improvement Process (LQMS-SIP) Towards Accreditation' to support countries in strengthening laboratory services through a stepwise approach toward fulfilling the ISO 15189: 2012 requirements. This approach consists of a three-tiered framework. Tier 1 represents the minimum requirements corresponding to the mandatory criteria for obtaining a licence from the Ministry of Health of the participating country. The next two tiers are quality improvement milestones that are achieved through the implementation of specific quality management system requirements. Laboratories that meet the requirements of the three tiers will be encouraged to apply for accreditation. The Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality hosts the LQMS-SIP Secretariat and will work with countries, including the Ministry of Health and stakeholders, including laboratory staff, to coordinate and implement LQMS-SIP activities. The Caribbean Public Health Agency will coordinate and advocate for the LQMS-SIP implementation. This article presents the Caribbean LQMS-SIP framework and describes how it will be implemented among various countries in the region to achieve quality improvement.

Room for improvement? Leadership, innovation culture and uptake of quality improvement methods in general practice.

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Apekey, Tanefa A; McSorley, Gerry; Tilling, Michelle; Siriwardena, A Niroshan

2011-04-01

Leadership and innovation are currently seen as essential elements for the development and maintenance of high-quality care. Little is known about the relationship between leadership and culture of innovation and the extent to which quality improvement methods are used in general practice. This study aimed to assess the relationship between leadership behaviour, culture of innovation and adoption of quality improvement methods in general practice. Self-administered postal questionnaires were sent to general practitioner quality improvement leads in one county in the UK between June and December 2007. The questionnaire consisted of background information, a 12-item scale to assess leadership behaviour, a seven-dimension self-rating scale for culture of innovation and questions on current use of quality improvement tools and techniques. Sixty-three completed questionnaires (62%) were returned. Leadership behaviours were not commonly reported. Most practices reported a positive culture of innovation, featuring relationship most strongly, followed by targets and information but rated lower on other dimensions of rewards, risk and resources. There was a significant positive correlation between leadership behaviour and the culture of innovation (r = 0.57; P improvement methods were not adopted by most participating practices. Leadership behaviours were infrequently reported and this was associated with a limited culture of innovation in participating general practices. There was little use of quality improvement methods beyond clinical and significant event audit. Practices need support to enhance leadership skills, encourage innovation and develop quality improvement skills if improvements in health care are to accelerate. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement: impact on process quality and patient safety.

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McFadden, Kathleen L; Stock, Gregory N; Gowen, Charles R

2014-10-01

Successful amelioration of medical errors represents a significant problem in the health care industry. There is a need for greater understanding of the factors that lead to improved process quality and patient safety outcomes in hospitals. We present a research model that shows how transformational leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) initiatives are related to objective quality and patient safety outcome measures. The proposed framework is tested using structural equation modeling, based on data collected for 204 hospitals, and supplemented with objective outcome data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The results provide empirical evidence that a safety climate, which is connected to the chief executive officer's transformational leadership style, is related to CQI initiatives, which are linked to improved process quality. A unique finding of this study is that, although CQI initiatives are positively associated with improved process quality, they are also associated with higher hospital-acquired condition rates, a measure of patient safety. Likewise, safety climate is directly related to improved patient safety outcomes. The notion that patient safety climate and CQI initiatives are not interchangeable or universally beneficial is an important contribution to the literature. The results confirm the importance of using CQI to effectively enhance process quality in hospitals, and patient safety climate to improve patient safety outcomes. The overall pattern of findings suggests that simultaneous implementation of CQI initiatives and patient safety climate produces greater combined benefits.

Effects of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention Trial to Improve Disease Outcomes in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

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Levy, Rona L; van Tilburg, Miranda A L; Langer, Shelby L; Romano, Joan M; Walker, Lynn S; Mancl, Lloyd A; Murphy, Tasha B; Claar, Robyn L; Feld, Shara I; Christie, Dennis L; Abdullah, Bisher; DuPen, Melissa M; Swanson, Kimberly S; Baker, Melissa D; Stoner, Susan A; Whitehead, William E

2016-09-01

Studies testing the efficacy of behavioral interventions to modify psychosocial sequelae of inflammatory bowel disease in children are limited. This report presents outcomes through a 6-month follow-up from a large randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral intervention for children with inflammatory bowel disease and their parents. One hundred eighty-five children aged 8 to 17 years with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and their parents were randomized to one of two 3-session conditions: (1) a social learning and cognitive behavioral therapy condition or (2) an education support condition designed to control for time and attention. There was a significant overall treatment effect for school absences due to Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (P cognitive behavioral therapy condition experienced a greater reduction in flares after treatment. This trial suggests that a brief cognitive behavioral intervention for children with inflammatory bowel disease and their parents can result in improved child functioning and quality of life, and for some children may decrease disease activity.

Outcomes of operations for benign foregut disease in elderly patients: a National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database analysis.

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Molena, Daniela; Mungo, Benedetto; Stem, Miloslawa; Feinberg, Richard L; Lidor, Anne O

2014-08-01

The development of minimally invasive operative techniques and improvement in postoperative care has made surgery a viable option to a greater number of elderly patients. Our objective was to evaluate the outcomes of laparoscopic and open foregut operation in relation to the patient age. Patients who underwent gastric fundoplication, paraesophageal hernia repair, and Heller myotomy were identified via the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database (2005-2011). Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared between five age groups (group I: ≤65 years, II: 65-69 years; III: 70-74 years; IV: 75-79 years; and V: ≥80 years). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to predict the impact of age and operative approach on the studied outcomes. A total of 19,388 patients were identified. Advanced age was associated with increased rate of 30-day mortality, overall morbidity, serious morbidity, and extended length of stay, regardless of the operative approach. After we adjusted for other variables, advanced age was associated with increased odds of 30-day mortality compared with patients <65 years (III: odds ratio 2.70, 95% confidence interval 1.34-5.44, P = .01; IV: 2.80, 1.35-5.81, P = .01; V: 6.12, 3.41-10.99, P < .001). Surgery for benign foregut disease in elderly patients carries a burden of mortality and morbidity that needs to be acknowledged. Copyright © 2014 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

How to Measure and Interpret Quality Improvement Data.

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McQuillan, Rory Francis; Silver, Samuel Adam; Harel, Ziv; Weizman, Adam; Thomas, Alison; Bell, Chaim; Chertow, Glenn M; Chan, Christopher T; Nesrallah, Gihad

2016-05-06

This article will demonstrate how to conduct a quality improvement project using the change idea generated in "How To Use Quality Improvement Tools in Clinical Practice: How To Diagnose Solutions to a Quality of Care Problem" by Dr. Ziv Harel and colleagues in this Moving Points feature. This change idea involves the introduction of a nurse educator into a CKD clinic with a goal of increasing rates of patients performing dialysis independently at home (home hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis). Using this example, we will illustrate a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle in action and highlight the principles of rapid cycle change methodology. We will then discuss the selection of outcome, process, and balancing measures, and the practicalities of collecting these data in the clinic environment. We will also introduce the PDSA worksheet as a practical way to oversee the progress of a quality improvement project. Finally, we will demonstrate how run charts are used to visually illustrate improvement in real time, and how this information can be used to validate achievement, respond appropriately to challenges the project may encounter, and prove the significance of results. This article aims to provide readers with a clear and practical framework upon which to trial their own ideas for quality improvement in the clinical setting. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Disease Management: The Need for a Focus on Broader Self-Management Abilities and Quality of Life.

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Cramm, Jane Murray; Nieboer, Anna Petra

2015-08-01

The study objective was to investigate long-term effects of disease management programs (DMPs) on (1) health behaviors (smoking, physical exercise); (2) self-management abilities (self-efficacy, investment behavior, initiative taking); and (3) physical and mental quality of life among chronically ill patients. The study also examined whether (changes in) health behaviors and self-management abilities predicted quality of life. Questionnaires were sent to all 5076 patients participating in 18 Dutch DMPs in 2010 (T0; 2676 [53%] respondents). Two years later (T1), questionnaires were sent to 4350 patients still participating in DMPs (1722 [40%] respondents). Structured interviews were held with the 18 DMP project leaders. DMP implementation improved patients' health behavior and physical quality of life, but mental quality of life and self-management abilities declined over time. Changes in patients' investment behavior predicted physical quality of life at T1 (Pquality of life at T1. The long-term benefits of these DMPs include successful improvement of chronically ill patients' health behaviors and physical quality of life. However, these programs were not able to improve or maintain broader self-management abilities or mental quality of life, highlighting the need to focus on these abilities and overall quality of life. As coproducers of care, patients should be stimulated and enabled to manage their health and quality of life.

Internal Resources to Improve the Quality of Higher Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatyana V. Zak

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the situation in the Russian higher education system. The factors affecting the improvement of the quality of higher education are analyzed. The emphasis is on mass universities. The main obstacles to improving the quality of education in these institutions are the Institute of collective reputation and the high costs of the struggle for improving the quality of education.The necessity of focusing on the actuation of the internal resources to improve the quality associated with the change in the educational process: giving students the right to choose the timing exams and training period at university. The implementation of the proposed measures will reduce the opportunity costs associated with quality improvement activities. The proposed change in the organization of the learning process opens the possibility to estimate the activity of universities in terms of medium-term implementation of educational programs. The use of this indicator will not only combine the two different targets of universities, but also to minimize the costs of opportunistic behavior of teachers and management.

Lower- Versus Higher-Income Populations In The Alternative Quality Contract: Improved Quality And Similar Spending.

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Song, Zirui; Rose, Sherri; Chernew, Michael E; Safran, Dana Gelb

2017-01-01

As population-based payment models become increasingly common, it is crucial to understand how such payment models affect health disparities. We evaluated health care quality and spending among enrollees in areas with lower versus higher socioeconomic status in Massachusetts before and after providers entered into the Alternative Quality Contract, a two-sided population-based payment model with substantial incentives tied to quality. We compared changes in process measures, outcome measures, and spending between enrollees in areas with lower and higher socioeconomic status from 2006 to 2012 (outcome measures were measured after the intervention only). Quality improved for all enrollees in the Alternative Quality Contract after their provider organizations entered the contract. Process measures improved 1.2 percentage points per year more among enrollees in areas with lower socioeconomic status than among those in areas with higher socioeconomic status. Outcome measure improvement was no different between the subgroups; neither were changes in spending. Larger or comparable improvements in quality among enrollees in areas with lower socioeconomic status suggest a potential narrowing of disparities. Strong pay-for-performance incentives within a population-based payment model could encourage providers to focus on improving quality for more disadvantaged populations. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Training and support to improve ICD coding quality: A controlled before-and-after impact evaluation.

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Dyers, Robin; Ward, Grant; Du Plooy, Shane; Fourie, Stephanus; Evans, Juliet; Mahomed, Hassan

2017-05-24

The proposed National Health Insurance policy for South Africa (SA) requires hospitals to maintain high-quality International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for patient records. While considerable strides had been made to improve ICD coding coverage by digitising the discharge process in the Western Cape Province, further intervention was required to improve data quality. The aim of this controlled before-and-after study was to evaluate the impact of a clinician training and support initiative to improve ICD coding quality. To compare ICD coding quality between two central hospitals in the Western Cape before and after the implementation of a training and support initiative for clinicians at one of the sites. The difference in differences in data quality between the intervention site and the control site was calculated. Multiple logistic regression was also used to determine the odds of data quality improvement after the intervention and to adjust for potential differences between the groups. The intervention had a positive impact of 38.0% on ICD coding completeness over and above changes that occurred at the control site. Relative to the baseline, patient records at the intervention site had a 6.6 (95% confidence interval 3.5 - 16.2) adjusted odds ratio of having a complete set of ICD codes for an admission episode after the introduction of the training and support package. The findings on impact on ICD coding accuracy were not significant. There is sufficient pragmatic evidence that a training and support package will have a considerable positive impact on ICD coding completeness in the SA setting.

Quality of life related to swallowing in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Danielle; das Graças Wanderley de Sales Coriolano, Maria; Belo, Luciana Rodrigues; de Marcos Rabelo, Aneide Rocha; Asano, Amdore Guescel; Lins, Otávio Gomes

2014-10-01

Swallowing difficulties in Parkinson's disease can result in decreased quality of life. The swallowing quality of life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL) is an instrument for specifically assessing quality of life with respect to swallowing, which has been little explored in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The goal of this study was to evaluate the quality of life with respect to swallowing in persons with PD compared to controls and at several stages of the disease using the SWAL-QOL. The experimental group was composed of 62 persons with PD at stages 1-4. Forty-one age-matched healthy subjects constituted the control group. The SWAL-QOL scores were significantly lower for the patients with PD than for the controls in all SWAL-QOL domains. Eating duration had the largest difference in score between persons with PD and the controls and the lowest mean score, followed by communication, fatigue, fear, sleep, and food selection. The scores of most domains were lower at later stages of the disease. The scores for eating duration, symptom frequency, and sleep were significantly lower at stage 4 than stages 1 and 2. In conclusion, patients with PD have significantly lower scores in all domains of the SWAL-QOL than normal controls. This means swallowing difficulties occurring in patients with PD negatively affect their QOL. Progression of the disease worsens swallowing QOL, more specifically in the domains of eating duration, symptom frequency, and sleep. This occurs mostly at later stages of the disease.

Improvement in quality of life of children with acute Crohn's disease does not parallel mucosal healing after treatment with exclusive enteral nutrition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Afzal, N. A.; van der Zaag-Loonen, H. J.; Arnaud-Battandier, F.; Davies, S.; Murch, S.; Derkx, B.; Heuschkel, R.; Fell, J. M.

2004-01-01

Crohn's disease is a chronic debilitating disorder affecting a child's physical and emotional well-being. Recent emphasis on 'quality of life' (QOL) has led to re-evaluation of available medical treatments. To assess prospectively change in QOL, clinical disease activity and intestinal mucosal

42 CFR 422.153 - Use of quality improvement organization review information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Use of quality improvement organization review... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICARE PROGRAM MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM Quality Improvement § 422.153 Use of quality improvement organization review information. CMS will acquire from quality...

Effectiveness of a quality-improvement program in improving management of primary care practices

Science.gov (United States)

Szecsenyi, Joachim; Campbell, Stephen; Broge, Bjoern; Laux, Gunter; Willms, Sara; Wensing, Michel; Goetz, Katja

2011-01-01

Background: The European Practice Assessment program provides feedback and outreach visits to primary care practices to facilitate quality improvement in five domains (infrastructure, people, information, finance, and quality and safety). We examined the effectiveness of this program in improving management in primary care practices in Germany, with a focus on the domain of quality and safety. Methods: In a before–after study, 102 primary care practices completed a practice assessment using the European Practice Assessment instrument at baseline and three years later (intervention group). A comparative group of 102 practices was included that completed their first assessment using this instrument at the time of the intervention group’s second assessment. Mean scores were based on the proportion of indicators for which a positive response was achieved by all of the practices, on a scale of 0 to 100. Results: We found significant improvements in all domains between the first and second assessments in the intervention group. In the domain of quality and safety, improvements in scores (mean scores were based on the proportion of indicators for which a positive response was achieved by all of the practices, on a scale of 0 to 100) were observed in the following dimensions: complaint management (from a mean score of 51.2 at first assessment to 80.7 at second assessment); analysis of critical incidents (from 79.1 to 89.6); and quality development, quality policy (from 40.7 to 55.6). Overall scores at the time of the second assessment were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the comparative group. Interpretation: Primary care practices that completed the European Practice Assessment instrument twice over a three-year period showed improvements in practice management. Our findings show the value of the quality-improvement cycle in the context of practice assessment and the use of established organizational standards for practice management with the

Framework for pharmacy services quality improvement--a bridge to cross the quality chasm. Part I. The opportunity and the tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtiss, Frederic R; Fry, Richard N; Avey, Steven G

2004-01-01

To review the literature on the subject of quality improvement principles and methods applied to pharmacy services and to describe a framework for current and future efforts in pharmacy services quality improvement and effective drug therapy management. The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy produced the Catalog of Pharmacy Quality Indicators in 1997, followed by the Summary of National Pharmacy Quality Measures in February 1999. In April 2002, AMCP introduced Pharmacy's Framework for Drug Therapy Management in the 21st Century. The Framework documents include a self-assessment tool that details more than 250 specific "components" that describe tasks, behaviors, skills, functions, duties, and responsibilities that contribute to meeting customer expectations for effective drug therapy management. There are many opportunities for quality improvement in clinical, service, and cost outcomes related to drug therapy management. These may include patient safety; incidence of medical errors; adverse drug events; patient adherence to therapy; attainment of target goals of blood pressure, glucose, and lipid levels; risk reduction for adverse cardiac events and osteoporotic-related fractures; patient satisfaction; risk of hospitalization or mortality; and cost of care. Health care practitioners can measure improvements in health care quality in several ways including (a) a better patient outcome at the same cost, (b) the same patient outcome at lower cost, (c) a better patient outcome at lower cost, or (d) a significantly better patient outcome at moderately higher cost. Measurement makes effective management possible. A framework of component factors (e.g., tasks) is necessary to facilitate changes in the key processes and critical factors that will help individual practitioners and health care systems meet customer expectations in regard to drug therapy, thus improving these outcomes. Quality improvement in health care services in the United States will be made in incremental

San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund

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EPAs grant program to protect and restore San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF) has invested in 58 projects along with 70 partners contributing to restore wetlands, water quality, and reduce polluted runoff.,

MODERN CONCEPTS OF THE SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARGARITA JANESKA

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Product quality is generally accepted as being crucial in today’s industrial business. The traditional aspects of product quality are connected to product design (translating customer demands into attractive features and technical specifications and to the design and specification of high performance production processes with low defect rates. Quality management is the general expression for all actions leading to quality. Quality management is focused on improving customer satisfaction through continuous improvement of processes including the removal of uncertain activities, and continuous improvement of the quality of processes, products and services. The quality management includes four key processes, such as quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality costs. The main accent in this paper will be on quality control and the application of one of the quality control tools in order to improve it. Six Sigma is different from other quality improvement concepts in that its framework is comprised of many principles, tools and techniques, which, together with experience, are all integrated and translated into best practices. Bearing in mind that the goal of every company is to work effectively and effectively in the long run, this paper focuses on Six Sigma as a way to continuously improve quality. Namely, this paper emphasizes the key features of the quality of products / services, the Need for the application of Six Sigma for quality assurance, and also a detailed list of tools and techniques that can be used during the implementation of Six Sigma.

Air Quality Awareness Among U.S. Adults With Respiratory and Heart Disease.

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Mirabelli, Maria C; Boehmer, Tegan K; Damon, Scott A; Sircar, Kanta D; Wall, Hilary K; Yip, Fuyuen Y; Zahran, Hatice S; Garbe, Paul L

2018-05-01

Poor air quality affects respiratory and cardiovascular health. Information about health risks associated with outdoor air quality is communicated to the public using air quality alerts. This study was conducted to assess associations of existing respiratory and heart disease with three aspects of air quality awareness: awareness of air quality alerts, discussing with a health professional strategies to reduce air pollution exposure, and avoiding busy roads to reduce air pollution exposure when walking, biking, or exercising outdoors. During 2014-2016, a total of 12,599 U.S. adults participated in summer waves of the ConsumerStyles surveys and self-reported asthma, emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and each aspect of air quality awareness. In 2017, associations between each health condition and air quality awareness were estimated using log binomial and multinomial regression. Overall, 49% of respondents were aware of air quality alerts, 3% discussed with a health professional strategies to reduce air pollution exposure, and 27% always/usually avoided busy roads to reduce air pollution exposure. Asthma was associated with increased prevalence of awareness of air quality alerts (prevalence ratio=1.11, 95% CI=1.04, 1.20), discussing with a health professional (prevalence ratio=4.88, 95% CI=3.74, 6.37), and always/usually avoiding busy roads to reduce air pollution exposure (prevalence ratio=1.13, 95% CI=1.01, 1.27). Heart disease was not associated with air quality awareness. Existing respiratory disease, but not heart disease, was associated with increased air quality awareness. These findings reveal important opportunities to raise awareness of air quality alerts and behavior changes aimed at reducing air pollution exposure among adults at risk of exacerbating respiratory and heart diseases. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Impact of Dysphagia Therapy on Quality of Life in Patients with Parkinson's Disease as Measured by the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire (SWALQOL

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Ayres, Annelise

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction Dysphagia is a common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD and it has been associated with poor quality of life (QoL, anxiety, depression. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in individuals with PD before and after SLP therapy. Methods The program consisted of four individual therapy sessions. Each session comprised guidelines regarding food and postural maneuvers (chin down. The Quality of Life in Swallowing Disorders (SWAL-QOL questionnaire was applied before and after therapy. Results The sample comprised of 10 individuals (8 men, with a mean (SD age of 62.2 (11.3 years, mean educational attainment of 7.5 (4.3 years, and mean disease duration of 10.7 (4.7 years. Thirty percent of patients were Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y stage 2, 50% were H&Y stage 3, and 20% were H&Y stage 4. Mean scores for all SWAL-QOL domains increased after the intervention period, with significant pre- to post-therapy differences in total score (p = 0.033 and domain 4 (symptom frequency (p = 0.025. There was also a bias significance for domain 5 (food selection (p = 0.095. Conclusion Patients exhibited improvement in swallowing-related quality of life after a SLP therapy program. The earlier in the course of PD, greater the improvement observed after therapy.

The Impact of Dysphagia Therapy on Quality of Life in Patients with Parkinson's Disease as Measured by the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire (SWALQOL).

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Ayres, Annelise; Jotz, Geraldo Pereira; Rieder, Carlos Roberto de Mello; Schuh, Artur Francisco Schumacher; Olchik, Maira Rozenfeld

2016-07-01

Dysphagia is a common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD) and it has been associated with poor quality of life (QoL), anxiety, depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in individuals with PD before and after SLP therapy. The program consisted of four individual therapy sessions. Each session comprised guidelines regarding food and postural maneuvers (chin down). The Quality of Life in Swallowing Disorders (SWAL-QOL) questionnaire was applied before and after therapy. The sample comprised of 10 individuals (8 men), with a mean (SD) age of 62.2 (11.3) years, mean educational attainment of 7.5 (4.3) years, and mean disease duration of 10.7 (4.7) years. Thirty percent of patients were Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage 2, 50% were H&Y stage 3, and 20% were H&Y stage 4. Mean scores for all SWAL-QOL domains increased after the intervention period, with significant pre- to post-therapy differences in total score (p = 0.033) and domain 4 (symptom frequency) (p = 0.025). There was also a bias significance for domain 5 (food selection) (p = 0.095). Patients exhibited improvement in swallowing-related quality of life after a SLP therapy program. The earlier in the course of PD, greater the improvement observed after therapy.

SF Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund: Projects and Accomplishments

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San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF) projects listed here are part of an EPA competitive grant program to improve SF Bay water quality focused on restoring impaired waters and enhancing aquatic resources.

Registry and health insurance claims data in vascular research and quality improvement.

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Behrendt, Christian-Alexander; Heidemann, Franziska; Rieß, Henrik Christian; Stoberock, Konstanze; Debus, Sebastian Eike

2017-01-01

The expansion of procedures in multidisciplinary vascular medicine has sparked a controversy regarding measures of quality improvement. In addition to primary registries, the use of health insurance claims data is becoming of increasing importance. However, due to the fact that health insurance claims data are not collected for scientific evaluation but rather for reimbursement purposes, meticulous validation is necessary before and during usage in research and quality improvement matters. This review highlights the advantages and disadvantages of such data sources. A recent comprehensive expert opinion panel examined the use of health insurance claims data and other administrative data sources in medicine. Results from several studies concerning the validity of administrative data varied significantly. Validity of these data sources depends on the clinical relevance of the diagnoses considered. The rate of implausible information was 0.04 %, while the validity of the considered diagnoses varied between 80 and 97 % across multiple validation studies. A matching study between health insurance claims data of the third-largest German health insurance provider, DAK-Gesundheit, and a prospective primary registry of the German Society for Vascular Surgery demonstrated a good level of validity regarding the mortality of endovascular and open surgical treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm in German hospitals. In addition, a large-scale international comparison of administrative data for the same disorder presented important results in treatment reality, which differed from those from earlier randomized controlled trials. The importance of administrative data for research and quality improvement will continue to increase in the future. When discussing the internal and external validity of this data source, one has to distinguish not only between its intended usage (research vs. quality improvement), but also between the included diseases and/or treatment procedures

Key factors for a high-quality peritoneal dialysis program--the role of the PD team and continuous quality improvement.

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Fang, Wei; Ni, Zhaohui; Qian, Jiaqi

2014-06-01

The proportion of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) has increased very fast in China over the last decade. Renji Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, is a recognized high-quality PD unit with a high PD utilization rate, excellent patient and technique survival (1-year and 5-year patient survival rate of 93% and 71%, and 1-year and 5-year technique survival of 96% and 82%, respectively), low peritonitis rate and a well-documented good quality of life of the treated patients. We believe that a dedicated and experienced PD team, a structured patient training program, continuous patient support, establishing and utilizing standardized protocols, starting PD with low dialysis dose, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), and continuous quality improvement (CQI) are the key factors underlying this successful PD program. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.

Using Surgeon-Specific Outcome Reports and Positive Deviance for Continuous Quality Improvement.

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Ivanovic, Jelena; Anstee, Caitlin; Ramsay, Tim; Gilbert, Sebastien; Maziak, Donna E; Shamji, Farid M; Sundaresan, R Sudhir; Villeneuve, P James; Seely, Andrew J E

2015-10-01

Using the thoracic morbidity and mortality classification to document all postoperative adverse events between October 2012 and February 2014, we created surgeon-specific outcome reports (SSORs) to promote self-assessment and to implement a divisional continuous quality improvement (CQI) program, on the construct of positive deviance, to improve individual surgeon's clinical performance. Mixed-methods study within a division of six thoracic surgeons, involving (1) development of real-time, Web-based, risk-adjusted SSORs; (2) implementation of CQI seminars (n = 6; September 2013 to June 2014) for evaluation of results, collegial discussion on quality improvement based on identification of positive outliers, and selection of quality indicators for future discussion; and (3) in-person interviews to identify facilitators and barriers to using SSORs and CQI. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Interviews revealed enthusiastic support for SSORs as a means to improve patient care through awareness of personal outcomes with blinded divisional comparison for similar operations and diseases, and apply the learning objectives to continuous professional development and maintenance of certification. Perceived limitations of SSORs included difficulty measuring surgeon expertise, limited understanding of risk adjustment, resistance to change, and belief that knowledge of sensitive data could lead to punitive actions. All surgeons believed CQI seminars led to collegial discussions, whereas perceived limitations included quorum participation and failing to circle back on actionable items. Real-time performance feedback using SSORs can motivate surgeons to improve their practice, and CQI seminars offer the opportunity to review and interpret results and address issues in a supportive environment. Whether SSORs and CQI can lead to improvements in rates of postoperative adverse events is a matter of ongoing research. Copyright © 2015 The Society of Thoracic

Quality improvement process pilot project at Gallagher station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vondielingen, D.E.

1992-01-01

A Quality Improvement Process was piloted at Gallagher station in 1990 to address issues of two Electric System Strategy Group (ESSG) goals. Darrell McElravy headed a group to address quality, productivity and prove and Judy Rushing headed a group to address innovation and recognition. These groups combined when a process was identified that could address both issues. The process was designed for PSI Energy by Business Incentives and is an incentive-based quality improvement process that seeks employee involvement to identify inhibitors t performance and to establish a method to eliminate the problem. Performance goals were also established that help focus efforts to improve performance and reward employees for their efforts

INEDITHOS: a Hospital Pedagogy project devoted to improving the quality of life of children and young people with rare diseases from the intervention, and research with university volunteering.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisca NEGRE BENNASAR

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an experience in Hospital Pedagogy organized by the University of the Balearic Islands. This project is called INEDITHOS and its main objective is to work into improve the quality of life of children and youth with Rare Diseases. The project works in three lines of intervention: psycho-pedagogical support to patients and their families, research to respond to the needs that are detected in this area and the training of university students who collaborates in the project, using the Service Learning methodology. The long trajectory of the project that began in 2003 has made it possible to consolidate the three interventions resulting in a non-profit association with the same name. This result is complemented by the growing involvement of other Associations such as ABAIMAR and FEDER with which close collaboration is maintained. It is also worth noting the increase in the number of volunteers, which allows to offer attention to a higher number of affected while improving the quality of the interventions made thanks to the collaboration and involvement of students and teachers who, through the methodology of Learning and Service, carry out activities and elaborate end-of-degree and master’s work based on the needs identified in the volunteer interventions. INEDITHOS has introduced Rare Diseases in the university context sensitizing a large part of the Educational Community.

Difficulty in Assessing Quality of Life Outcomes in a Fluctuating Disease: A Hypothesis Based on Gastroparesis

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Vic Velanovich

2009-01-01

Full Text Available An underlying assumption of quality of life outcome research is that after some intervention a “steady-state” of quality of life is reached which can be identified as an endpoint, and, hence, the “outcome.” However, in some disease processes, no so such steady-state is reached. The hypothesis presented is that a disease process with a waxing and waning course will make it difficult to determine a quality of life endpoint. After clinical observation, a pilot study of patients with either diabetic or idiopathic gastroparesis with gastric neurostimulation their records were reviewed to identify the number of clinic visits, the number of clinic visits in which the patients were asymptomatic, much improved, improved, no change, worse, or much worse. These changes were defined as “transitions.” A “transition ratio” was calculated by dividing the number of transitions by the number of clinic visits. Preliminary results showed that of 32 patients, the median number of clinic encounters was 8 (1–35, and the median number of transitions 4 (0–22. The average transition ration was 0.56±0.31. In the case of gastroparesis, over half of all clinical encounters were associated with a transition. The implication of the hypothesis and preliminary finding suggests a difficulty to identify when the symptomatic endpoint was reached. Other methods to assess the effects of treatment in such a disease process are required to fully understand the effects of treatment on quality of life.

Impact of newer pharmacological treatments on quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease.

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Gallagher, David A; Schrag, Anette

2008-01-01

Parkinson's disease is a common progressive neurodegenerative condition with multiple motor and nonmotor features contributing to impairment of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Pharmacological treatments have been directed primarily at dopamine replacement with levodopa and agents to improve its bioavailability, including DOPA decarboxylase inhibitors, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) inhibitors, as well as synthetic dopamine agonists. These treatments to restore motor function are often very successful in early Parkinson's disease, with objective improvement and concomitant improvement in subjective HR-QOL scores. However, as the disease progresses, motor complications and nonmotor symptoms predominate and are often refractory to therapeutic interventions. Antiparkinsonian medications have been shown to improve motor severity and motor complications of advancing disease, and there is increasing evidence that this can be translated into subjective improvement of HR-QOL from a patient's point of view. However, the degree of improvement is less marked on HR-QOL scores than on motor scores, and some studies do not show improvement of HR-QOL in parallel to motor improvements. A number of explanations are possible, including limitations of the scales used, trial designs and lack of clinical improvement from the patients' point of view. This review concentrates on clinical trials with an index of HR-QOL as an outcome measure, with particular emphasis on well designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled or active comparator-controlled methodology. Drugs that have been more recently added to the armamentarium of Parkinson's disease, including the oral (pramipexole, ropinirole and piribedil) and transdermal (rotigotine) non-ergotamine-derived dopamine agonists, the novel MAO-B inhibitor rasagiline and the COMT inhibitors tolcapone and entacapone, were included. The effect of each of these agents on overall HR

The National Network of State Perinatal Quality Collaboratives: A Growing Movement to Improve Maternal and Infant Health.

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Henderson, Zsakeba T; Ernst, Kelly; Simpson, Kathleen Rice; Berns, Scott; Suchdev, Danielle B; Main, Elliott; McCaffrey, Martin; Lee, Karyn; Rouse, Tara Bristol; Olson, Christine K

2018-03-01

State Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) are networks of multidisciplinary teams working to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. To address the shared needs across state PQCs and enable collaboration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in partnership with March of Dimes and perinatal quality improvement experts from across the country, supported the development and launch of the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC). This process included assessing the status of PQCs in this country and identifying the needs and resources that would be most useful to support PQC development. National representatives from 48 states gathered for the first meeting of the NNPQC to share best practices for making measurable improvements in maternal and infant health. The number of state PQCs has grown considerably over the past decade, with an active PQC or a PQC in development in almost every state. However, PQCs have some common challenges that need to be addressed. After its successful launch, the NNPQC is positioned to ensure that every state PQC has access to key tools and resources that build capacity to actively improve maternal and infant health outcomes and healthcare quality.

Coaching and Quality Assistance in Quality Rating Improvement Systems: Approaches Used by TA Providers to Improve Quality in Early Care and Education Programs and Home-Based Settings

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Smith, Sheila; Robbins, Taylor; Schneider, Will; Kreader, J. Lee; Ong, Christine

2012-01-01

Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRISs) commonly offer on-site technical assistance (TA) and coaching to help early care and education settings achieve quality improvements and a higher QRIS rating. In surveys of administrators overseeing statewide QRISs, almost all states reported the use of on-site TA and coaching in both center-based and…

Implementation of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation.

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Ndihokubwayo, Jean-Bosco; Maruta, Talkmore; Ndlovu, Nqobile; Moyo, Sikhulile; Yahaya, Ali Ahmed; Coulibaly, Sheick Oumar; Kasolo, Francis; Turgeon, David; Abrol, Angelii P

2016-01-01

The increase in disease burden has continued to weigh upon health systems in Africa. The role of the laboratory has become increasingly critical in the improvement of health for diagnosis, management and treatment of diseases. In response, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) and its partners created the WHO AFRO Stepwise Laboratory (Quality) Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) program. WHO AFRO defined a governance structure with roles and responsibilities for six main stakeholders. Laboratories were evaluated by auditors trained and certified by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine. Laboratory performance was measured using the WHO AFRO SLIPTA scoring checklist and recognition certificates rated with 1-5 stars were issued. By March 2015, 27 of the 47 (57%) WHO AFRO member states had appointed a SLIPTA focal point and 14 Ministers of Health had endorsed SLIPTA as the desired programme for continuous quality improvement. Ninety-eight auditors from 17 African countries, competent in the Portuguese (3), French (12) and English (83) languages, were trained and certified. The mean score for the 159 laboratories audited between May 2013 and March 2015 was 69% (median 70%; SD 11.5; interquartile range 62-77). Of these audited laboratories, 70% achieved 55% compliance or higher (2 or more stars) and 1% scored at least 95% (5 stars). The lowest scoring sections of the WHO AFRO SLIPTA checklist were sections 6 (Internal Audit) and 10 (Corrective Action), which both had mean scores below 50%. The WHO AFRO SLIPTA is a process that countries with limited resources can adopt for effective implementation of quality management systems. Political commitment, ownership and investment in continuous quality improvement are integral components of the process.

Using complaints to enhance quality improvement: developing an analytical tool.

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Hsieh, Sophie Yahui

2012-01-01

This study aims to construct an instrument for identifying certain attributes or capabilities that might enable healthcare staff to use complaints to improve service quality. PubMed and ProQuest were searched, which in turn expanded access to other literature. Three paramount dimensions emerged for healthcare quality management systems: managerial, operational, and technical (MOT). The paper reveals that the managerial dimension relates to quality improvement program infrastructure. It contains strategy, structure, leadership, people and culture. The operational dimension relates to implementation processes: organizational changes and barriers when using complaints to enhance quality. The technical dimension emphasizes the skills, techniques or information systems required to achieve successfully continuous quality improvement. The MOT model was developed by drawing from the relevant literature. However, individuals have different training, interests and experiences and, therefore, there will be variance between researchers when generating the MOT model. The MOT components can be the guidelines for examining whether patient complaints are used to improve service quality. However, the model needs testing and validating by conducting further research before becoming a theory. Empirical studies on patient complaints did not identify any analytical tool that could be used to explore how complaints can drive quality improvement. This study developed an instrument for identifying certain attributes or capabilities that might enable healthcare professionals to use complaints and improve service quality.

Designing a Clinical Data Warehouse Architecture to Support Quality Improvement Initiatives.

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Chelico, John D; Wilcox, Adam B; Vawdrey, David K; Kuperman, Gilad J

2016-01-01

Clinical data warehouses, initially directed towards clinical research or financial analyses, are evolving to support quality improvement efforts, and must now address the quality improvement life cycle. In addition, data that are needed for quality improvement often do not reside in a single database, requiring easier methods to query data across multiple disparate sources. We created a virtual data warehouse at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital that allowed us to bring together data from several source systems throughout the organization. We also created a framework to match the maturity of a data request in the quality improvement life cycle to proper tools needed for each request. As projects progress in the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control stages of quality improvement, there is a proper matching of resources the data needs at each step. We describe the analysis and design creating a robust model for applying clinical data warehousing to quality improvement.

Poor quality of life, depressed mood, and memory impairment may be mediated by sleep disruption in patients with Addison's disease.

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Henry, Michelle; Wolf, Pedro S A; Ross, Ian L; Thomas, Kevin G F

2015-11-01

Standard replacement therapy for Addison's disease (AD) does not restore a normal circadian rhythm. In fact, hydrocortisone replacement in AD patients likely induces disrupted sleep. Given that healthy sleep plays an important role in improving quality of life, optimizing cognition, and ensuring affect regulation, the aim of this study was to investigate whether poor quality of life, mood alterations, and memory complaints reported by AD patients are associated with their disrupted sleep patterns. Sixty patients with AD and 60 matched healthy controls completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing perceived physical and mental health (Short-Form 36), mood (Beck Depression Inventory-II), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and cognition (Cognitive Failures Questionnaire). A latent variable model revealed that although AD had a significant direct effect on quality of life, the indirect effect of sleep was significantly greater. Furthermore, although AD had no direct effect on cognitive functioning, the indirect effect of sleep was significant. The overall model showed a good fit (comparative fit index = 0.91, root mean square of approximation = 0.09, and standardized root mean square residual = 0.05). Our findings suggest that disrupted sleep, and not the disease per se, may induce poor quality of life, memory impairment, and affect dysregulation in patients with AD. We think that improving sleep architecture may improve cognitive, affective, and physical functioning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality Assurance Standards for Symptomatic Breast Disease Services

OpenAIRE

Department of Health (Ireland)

2007-01-01

Quality Assurance Standards for Symptomatic Breast Disease Services People in Ireland have a right to expect that medical care be of good quality. They expect that standards of care are consistently high. They expect that access to care is easy, speedy, effective and efficient. Society expects quality of care to measure up to international norms of good practice. Such assurance can be given by auditing the quality of activity. Click here to download PDF 606kb

Quality Improvement with Trustee Commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaffee, Ellen Earle; Seymour, Daniel

1991-01-01

Total Quality Management is a comprehensive system for developing organizationwide participation in planning for and implementing continuous improvement in critical processes. In colleges, trustees can be central to the success of the method through their commitment and the development of supportive policy and procedures. (MSE)

Evolution and outcomes of a quality improvement program.

Science.gov (United States)

Thor, Johan; Herrlin, Bo; Wittlöv, Karin; Øvretveit, John; Brommels, Mats

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcomes and evolution over a five-year period of a Swedish university hospital quality improvement program in light of enduring uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of such programs in healthcare and how best to evaluate it. The paper takes the form of a case study, using data collected as part of the program, including quality indicators from clinical improvement projects and participants' program evaluations. Overall, 58 percent of the program's projects (39/67) demonstrated success. A greater proportion of projects led by female doctors demonstrated success (91 percent, n=11) than projects led by male doctors (51 percent, n=55). Facilitators at the hospital continuously adapted the improvement methods to the local context. A lack of dedicated time for improvement efforts was the participants' biggest difficulty. The dominant benefits included an increased ability to see the "bigger picture" and the improvements achieved for patients and employees. Quality measurement, which is important for conducting and evaluating improvement efforts, was weak with limited reliability. Nevertheless, the present study adds evidence about the effectiveness of healthcare improvement programs. Gender differences in improvement team leadership merit further study. Improvement program evaluation should assess the extent to which improvement methods are locally adapted and applied. This case study reports the outcomes of all improvement projects undertaken in one healthcare organization over a five-year period and provides in-depth insight into an improvement program's changeable nature.

Improving the quality of nurse clinical documentation for chronic patients at primary care clinics: A multifaceted intervention

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Ozayr H. Mahomed

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Deficiencies in record keeping practices have been reported at primary care level in the public health sector in South Africa. These deficiencies have the potential to negatively impact patient health outcomes as the break in information may hinder continuity of care. This disruption in information management has particular relevance for patients with chronic diseases. Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish if the implementation of a structured clinical record (SCR as an adjunct tool to the algorithmic guidelines for chronic disease management improved the quality of clinical records at primary care level. Method: A quasi-experimental study (before and after study with a comparison group was conducted across 30 primary health care clinics (PHCs located in three districts in South Africa. Twenty PHCs that received the intervention were selected as intervention clinics and 10 facilities were selected as comparison facilities. The lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS method was used to determine the number of records required to be reviewed per diagnostic condition per facility. Results: There was a a statistically significant increase in the percentage of clinical records achieving compliance to the minimum criteria from the baseline to six months post-intervention for both HIV patients on antiretroviral treatment and patients with non-communicable diseases (hypertension and diabetes. Conclusions: A multifaceted intervention using a SCR to supplement the educational outreach component (PC 101 training has demonstrated the potential for improving the quality of clinical records for patients with chronic diseases at primary care clinics in South Africa.

Formalising medical quality indicators to improve guidelines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Gendt, Marjolein; Ten Teije, Annette; Serban, Radu; Van Harmelen, Frank

2005-01-01

Medical guidelines can significantly improve quality of medical care and reduce costs. But how do we get sound and well-structured guidelines? This paper investigates the use of quality indicators that are formulated by medical institutions to evaluate medical care. The main research questions are

Impact of periodontal disease on quality of life: a systematic review.

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Ferreira, M C; Dias-Pereira, A C; Branco-de-Almeida, L S; Martins, C C; Paiva, S M

2017-08-01

The diagnosis of periodontal disease is commonly based on objective evaluations of the patient's medical/dental history as well as clinical and radiographic examinations. However, periodontal disease should also be evaluated subjectively through measures that quantify its impact on oral health-related quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of periodontal disease on quality of life among adolescents, adults and older adults. A systematic search of the literature was performed for scientific articles published up to July 2015 using electronic databases and a manual search. Two independent reviewers performed the selection of the studies, extracted the data and assessed the methodological quality. Thirty-four cross-sectional studies involving any age group, except children, and the use of questionnaires for the assessment of the impact of periodontal disease on quality of life were included. Twenty-five studies demonstrated that periodontal disease was associated with a negative impact on quality of life, with severe periodontitis exerting the most significant impact by compromising aspects related to function and esthetics. Unlike periodontitis, gingivitis was associated with pain as well as difficulties performing oral hygiene and wearing dentures. Gingivitis was also negatively correlated with comfort. The results indicate that periodontal disease may exert an impact on quality of life of individuals, with greater severity of the disease related to greater impact. Longitudinal studies with representative samples are needed to ensure validity of the findings. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impact of the Mobile HealthPROMISE Platform on the Quality of Care and Quality of Life in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Study Protocol of a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

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Khan, Sameer; Rogers, Jason D; Otobo, Emamuzo; Patel, Nishant P; Ullman, Thomas; Colombel, Jean Fred; Moore, Shirley; Sands, Bruce E

2015-01-01

Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition of the bowel that affects over 1 million people in the United States. The recurring nature of disease makes IBD patients ideal candidates for patient-engaged care that is centered on enhanced self-management and improved doctor-patient communication. In IBD, optimal approaches to management vary for patients with different phenotypes and extent of disease and past surgical history. Hence, a single quality metric cannot define a heterogeneous disease such as IBD, unlike hypertension and diabetes. A more comprehensive assessment may be provided by complementing traditional quality metrics with measures of the patient’s quality of life (QOL) through an application like HealthPROMISE. Objective The objective of this pragmatic randomized controlled trial is to determine the impact of the HealthPROMISE app in improving outcomes (quality of care [QOC], QOL, patient adherence, disease control, and resource utilization) as compared to a patient education app. Our hypothesis is that a patient-centric self-monitoring and collaborative decision support platform will lead to sustainable improvement in overall QOL for IBD patients. Methods Participants will be recruited during face-to-face visits and randomized to either an interventional (ie, HealthPROMISE) or control (ie, education app). Patients in the HealthPROMISE arm will be able to update their information and receive disease summary, quality metrics, and a graph showing the trend of QOL (SIBDQ) scores and resource utilization over time. Providers will use the data for collaborative decision making and quality improvement interventions at the point of care. Patients in the control arm will enter data at baseline, during office visits, and at the end of the study but will not receive any decision support (trend of QOL, alert, or dashboard views). Results Enrollment in the trial will be starting in first quarter of 2015. It is intended that up to 300

A training approach to improve stepping automaticity while dual-tasking in Parkinson's disease

OpenAIRE

Chomiak, Taylor; Watts, Alexander; Meyer, Nicole; Pereira, Fernando V.; Hu, Bin

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Deficits in motor movement automaticity in Parkinson's disease (PD), especially during multitasking, are early and consistent hallmarks of cognitive function decline, which increases fall risk and reduces quality of life. This study aimed to test the feasibility and potential efficacy of a wearable sensor-enabled technological platform designed for an in-home music-contingent stepping-in-place (SIP) training program to improve step automaticity during dual-tasking (DT). M...

Translating scientific advances to improved outcomes for children with sickle cell disease: a timely opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Raphael, Jean L; Kavanagh, Patricia L; Wang, C Jason; Mueller, Brigitta U; Zuckerman, Barry

2011-07-01

Despite the recent advances made in the care of children with sickle cell disease (SCD), premature mortality, especially among older children and young adults, remains a hallmark of this disease. The lack of survival gains highlights the translational gap of implementing innovations found efficacious in the controlled trial setting into routine clinical practice. Health services research (HSR) examines the most effective ways to finance, organize, and deliver high quality care in an equitable manner. To date, HSR has been underutilized as a means to improve the outcomes for children with SCD. Emerging national priorities in health care delivery, new sources of funding, and evolving electronic data collection systems for patients with SCD have provided a unique opportunity to overcome the translational gap in pediatric SCD. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive HSR agenda to create patient-specific evidence of clinical effectiveness for interventions used in the routine care setting, understand the barriers faced by clinicians to providing high quality care, assess and improve the interactions of patients with the health care system, and measure the quality of care delivered to increase survival for all children and young adults with SCD. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Systematic Review of International Colposcopy Quality Improvement Guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayeaux, Edward J; Novetsky, Akiva P; Chelmow, David; Choma, Kim; Garcia, Francisco; Liu, Angela H; Papasozomenos, Theognosia; Einstein, Mark H

2017-10-01

The American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology Colposcopy Standards Committee organized multiple working groups to draft colposcopy standards for the United States. As part of this project, international quality assurance and improvement measures were examined. The quality improvement working group performed a systematic review of the literature to collate international guidelines related to quality improvement. Source guidelines were collected using searches in Medline, Google Scholar, the International Federation of Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy Web site, other regional colposcopy group's Web sites, and communications with International Federation of Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy board of directors' members and other expert members of various national groups. Once identified, the sources were reviewed by multiple workgroup members for potential guideline materials. Fifty-six unique documents were identified, of which 18 met inclusion criteria and contributed data to the analysis. Information was abstracted and grouped by related subject. Wide variation exists in colposcopy guidance and quality indicators from regional and national colposcopy societies. Abstracted international guidelines are presented.

Total parathyroidectomy with forearm auto-transplantation improves the quality of life and reduces the recurrence of secondary hyperparathyroidism in chronic kidney disease patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jia-Gen; Xiao, Zhang-Sheng; Hu, Xian-Jie; Li, Yun; Zhang, Xing; Zhang, Song-Ze; Shan, Ai-Qin

2017-12-01

type were the risk factors for the recurrence of chronic kidney disease with SHPT. Total PTX combined with FAT is more effective in improving the quality of life and reducing the recurrence of chronic kidney disease with SHPT than PTX alone.

Continuous improvement of software quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivertsen, Terje

1999-04-01

The present report is the first Halden Work Report delivered from the OECD Halden Reactor Project's research activity on formal methods and software quality. Of particular concern in this activity is to reach a consensus between regulators, licensees and the nuclear industry on questions related to the effective, industrial use of formal methods. The report gives considerable attention to the importance of continuous improvement as a characteristic of a living software quality system, and to the need of providing a basis for software process/product quality integration. In particular, the report discusses these aspects from the perspectives of defect prevention, formal methods, Total Quality Management (TQM), and Bayesian Belief Nets. Another concern is to promote controlled experiments on the use of new methods, techniques, and tools. This is achieved partly by reviewing suggestions on the collection and experimental use of data, and by surveying a number of metrics believed to have some potential for comparison studies (author) (ml)

Training and support to improve ICD coding quality: A controlled before-and-after impact evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin Dyers

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background. The proposed National Health Insurance policy for South Africa (SA requires hospitals to maintain high-quality International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD codes for patient records. While considerable strides had been made to improve ICD coding coverage by digitising the discharge process in the Western Cape Province, further intervention was required to improve data quality. The aim of this controlled before-and-after study was to evaluate the impact of a clinician training and support initiative to improve ICD coding quality. Objective. To compare ICD coding quality between two central hospitals in the Western Cape before and after the implementation of a training and support initiative for clinicians at one of the sites. Methods. The difference in differences in data quality between the intervention site and the control site was calculated. Multiple logistic regression was also used to determine the odds of data quality improvement after the intervention and to adjust for potential differences between the groups. Results. The intervention had a positive impact of 38.0% on ICD coding completeness over and above changes that occurred at the control site. Relative to the baseline, patient records at the intervention site had a 6.6 (95% confidence interval 3.5 - 16.2 adjusted odds ratio of having a complete set of ICD codes for an admission episode after the introduction of the training and support package. The findings on impact on ICD coding accuracy were not significant. Conclusion. There is sufficient pragmatic evidence that a training and support package will have a considerable positive impact on ICD coding completeness in the SA setting.

Application of improved quality control technology to pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kriedt, F.

1985-01-01

Within the last decade, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII-1 instituted requirements for a formal written quality control system. The results, good and bad, of this requirement are discussed. The effects are far reaching from a national economic standpoint. Quality control technology has improved. These improvements are discussed and compared to existing requirements of the CODE. Recommended improvements are suggested

Quality of life in women with coronary artery disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghasemi, Elham; Mohammad Aliha, Jaleh; Bastani, Farideh; Haghani, Hamid; Samiei, Niloufar

2014-07-01

Coronary artery disease (CAD) as a chronic disease can affect physical, mental, and social aspects of health as well as the perception of wellbeing. Advanced treatments of the disease emphasize on functionality and quality of life (QOL). The present study aimed to investigate the QOL and its related factors among women with CAD. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 200 women with CAD, referring to the Heart Clinic of Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center in Tehran, Iran. The participants were selected by convenient sampling method. Data were collected using the Persian version of Ferrans and Powers QOL index (QLI) cardiac version and then analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical tests (independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe's test). The mean score of overall QOL was 16.91 ± 3.54, ranging between 7.17-27.63. Regarding the instrument subscales, the mean scores were as follows: health and functioning: 15.48 ± 4.32, social and economic: 16.18 ± 3.65, psychological/spiritual: 18.04 ± 4.36, and familial: 20.12 ± 4.57. There was a significant relationship between QOL and marital status (P = 0.004), education (P = 0.007), income (P job and comorbidity. Based on the findings, participants had average levels of overall QOL. Some domains showed the need to improve QOL of women with CAD. Results of the present study revealed the necessity of designing and performing educational and supportive interventions to improve the QOL in women with CAD, especially among patients with low socio-economic status.

International Accreditations as Drivers of Business School Quality Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Michael

2013-01-01

Business schools are under pressure to implement continuous improvement and quality assurance processes to remain competitive in a globalized higher education market. Drivers for quality improvement include external, environmental pressures, regulatory bodies such as governments, and, increasingly, voluntary accreditation agencies such as AACSB…

Quality of Life of patients with chronic kidney disease in Iran: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ghiasi, Bahareh; Sarokhani, Diana; Dehkordi, Ali Hasanpour; Sayehmiri, Kourosh; Heidari, Mohammad Hossein

2018-01-01

Introduction: Renal diseases are among the major health problems around the world that cause major changes in patients’ lifestyle and affect their quality of lives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Iran through a meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using authentic Persian and English keywords in the national and international databases including IranMedex, SID, Magiran, IranDoc, Medlib, Science Direct, Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, and Medline. The data were analyzed using meta-analysis (random effects model). Heterogeneity of studies was assessed using I2 index. In this study, SF-36: 36-Item Short Form health-related quality of life (HRQOL), kidney disease quality of life-SF (KDQOL-SF), KDQOL and KDQOL-SFTM questionnaires were used. Data were analyzed using STATA Version 11 software. Results: A total of 17200 individuals participated in 45 reviewed studies, and the mean score of CKD patients’ quality of life was estimated by SF-36 (60.31), HRQOL (60.51), and KDQOL-SF (50.37) questionnaires. In addition, meta-regression showed that the mean score of CKD patients’ quality of life did not significantly decrease during the past years. Conclusion: The mean score of quality of life of patients with CKD was lower in different dimensions in comparison with that of normal people. Therefore, interventional measures should be taken to improve the quality of life of these patients in all dimensions. PMID:29440817

Combining clinical microsystems and an experiential quality improvement curriculum to improve residency education in internal medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Tess, Anjala V; Yang, Julius J; Smith, C Christopher; Fawcett, Caitlin M; Bates, Carol K; Reynolds, Eileen E

2009-03-01

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's internal medicine residency program was admitted to the new Education Innovation Project accreditation pathway of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education to begin in July 2006. The authors restructured the inpatient medical service to create clinical microsystems in which residents practice throughout residency. Program leadership then mandated an active curriculum in quality improvement based in those microsystems. To provide the experience to every graduating resident, a core faculty in patient safety was trained in the basics of quality improvement. The authors hypothesized that such changes would increase the number of residents participating in quality improvement projects, improve house officer engagement in quality improvement work, enhance the culture of safety the residents perceive in their training environment, improve work flow on the general medicine ward rotations, and improve the overall educational experience for the residents on ward rotations.The authors describe the first 18 months of the intervention (July 2006 to January 2008). The authors assessed attitudes and the educational experience with surveys and evaluation forms. After the intervention, the authors documented residents' participation in projects that overlapped with hospital priorities. More residents reported roles in designing and implementing quality improvement changes. Residents also noted greater satisfaction with the quality of care they deliver. Fewer residents agreed or strongly agreed that the new admitting system interfered with communication. Ongoing residency program assessment showed an improved perception of workload, and educational ratings of rotations improved. The changes required few resources and can be transported to other settings.

Disease activity in and quality of life of patients with psoriatic arthritis mutilans: the Nordic PAM Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindqvist, U; Gudbjornsson, B; Iversen, L; Laasonen, L; Ejstrup, L; Ternowitz, T; Ståhle, M

2017-11-01

To describe the social status and health-related quality of life of patients with psoriatic arthritis mutilans (PAM) in the Nordic countries. Patients with at least one mutilated joint confirmed by radiology were studied. Disease activity involving joints and skin, physician-assessed disease activity, and patient's education and work status were recorded. Data from the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, Health Assessment Questionnaire and Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire were gathered and correlated with disease duration, pain, and general well-being (visual analogue scale). The controls were 58 Swedish patients with long-standing psoriatic arthritis sine PAM. Sixty-seven patients were included. Patients with PAM had a protracted disease history (33 ± 14 years) and disease onset at a relatively early age (30 ± 12 years). Overall inflammatory activity at inclusion was mild to moderate. The mean number of mutilated joints was 8.2 and gross deformity was found in 16% of patients. Forty per cent were treated with biological and 32% with conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Forty-two per cent had retired early or were on sick leave. Impaired functional capacity with little or no ability to perform self-care or everyday tasks was reported by 21% of the patients. Patients between 45 and 60 years of age reported the most impaired quality of life in comparison to the control group. PAM seriously affects social functioning. Whether early recognition of PAM and new forms of therapy can improve disease outcome and quality of life remains to be studied.

Clinical Performance Measures and Quality Improvement System Considerations for Dental Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Parkinson, Joseph W; Zeller, Gregory G

2017-03-01

Quality improvement and quality assurance programs are an integral part of providing excellence in health care delivery. The Dental Quality Alliance and the Commission on Dental Accreditation recognize this and have created standards and recommendations to advise health care providers and health care delivery systems, including dental schools, on measuring the quality of the care delivered to patients. Overall health care expenditures have increased, and the Affordable Care Act has made health care, including dentistry, available to more people in the United States. These increases in cost and in the number of patients accessing care contribute to a heightened interest in measurable quality improvement outcomes that reflect efficiency, effectiveness, and overall value. Practitioners and administrators, both in academia and in the "real world," need an understanding of various quality improvement methodologies available in order to select approaches that support effective monitoring of the quality of care delivered. This article compares and contrasts various quality improvement approaches, programs, and systems currently in use in order to assist dental providers and administrators in choosing quality improvement methodologies pertinent to their practice or institution.

Coaching for Quality Improvement: Lessons Learned from Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). Research Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Tout, Kathryn; Isner, Tabitha; Zaslow, Martha

2011-01-01

Coaching and other on-site, individualized professional development strategies (consultation, mentoring, and technical assistance) are promising approaches to support the application of new teaching practices and overall quality improvement among practitioners in early care and education settings. This Research Brief summarizes a recent report…

Reaching Rural Mammographers for Quality Improvement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Urban, Nicole

1997-01-01

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington, and the Washington State Department of Health are collaborating to develop and implement a mammography quality improvement program (MQIP...

Reaching Rural Mammographers for Quality Improvement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Urban, Nicole

1998-01-01

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington, and the Washington State Department of Health are collaborating to develop and implement a mammography quality improvement. program (MQIP...

Reaching Rural Mammographers for Quality Improvement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Urban, Nicole

1999-01-01

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Washington, and the Washington State Department of Health are collaborating to develop and implement a mammography quality improvement program (MQIP...

Gender and Racial Differences in Stress, Coping, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Gemmell, Leigh A; Terhorst, Lauren; Jhamb, Manisha; Unruh, Mark; Myaskovsky, Larissa; Kester, Lauren; Steel, Jennifer L

2016-12-01

Living with chronic kidney disease can be stressful and influence an individual's health-related quality of life. Effective coping strategies may reduce stress and improve quality of life in individuals with chronic medical conditions. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important outcome for patients living with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and it is necessary to better understand potential gender and racial differences and predictors associated with reduced HRQOL, so that effective interventions can be developed. Participants included 182 patients with CKD who were administered a battery of questions that included the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36, Perceived Stress Scale, and the Brief COPE. Demographic and disease-specific information was abstracted from the patients' medical record. No differences by race were observed with regard to stress, quality of life, or coping with the exception that minority patients reported use of religious coping more often (P = 0.001) and had higher levels of energy compared with nonminority patients with CKD (P = 0.27). Women with CKD tended to use self-distraction (P = 0.002), positive reframing (P = 0.035), venting (P = 0.024), and religious coping (P = 0 stress or domains of quality of life were observed between men and women with CKD. A link between coping strategies and HRQOL was observed in women (P = 0.001-0.02) but not men. Perceived stress was associated with poorer quality of life for men (P = 0.017 to life were affected by perceived stress compared with women. The findings of the study suggest that the wider range of coping strategies used by women may be associated with buffering the link between perceived stress and quality of life. Men with CKD may benefit from interventions that not only reduce stress but also facilitate the use of a broader range of coping strategies to reduce stress and improve quality of life. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine

Measuring the quality of provided services for patients with chronic kidney disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Raadabadi, Mehdi; Heidari Jamebozorgi, Majid; Salesi, Mahmood; Ravangard, Ramin

2014-09-01

The healthcare organizations need to develop and implement quality improvement plans for their survival and success. Measuring quality in the healthcare competitive environment is an undeniable necessity for these organizations and will lead to improved patient satisfaction. This study aimed to measure the quality of provided services for patients with chronic kidney disease in Kerman in 2014. This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytic study was performed from 23 January 2014 to 14 February 2014 in four hemodialysis centers in Kerman. All of the patients on chronic hemodialysis (n = 195) who were referred to these four centers were selected and studied using census method. The required data were collected using the SERVQUAL questionnaire, consisting of two parts: questions related to the patients' demographic characteristics, and 28 items to measure the patients' expectations and perceptions of the five dimensions of service quality, including tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 through some statistical tests, including independent-samples t test, one-way ANOVA, and paired-samples t test. The results showed that the means of patients' expectations were more than their perceptions of the quality of provided services in all dimensions, which indicated that there were gaps in all dimensions. The highest and lowest means of negative gaps were related to empathy (-0.52 ± 0.48) and tangibility (-0.29 ± 0.51). In addition, among the studied patients' demographic characteristics and the five dimensions of service quality, only the difference between the patients' income levels and the gap in assurance were statistically significant (P expectations of patients on hemodialysis were more than their perceptions of provided services. The healthcare providers and employees should pay more attention to the patients' opinions and comments and use their feedback to solve the workplace problems and

Research on construction quality and improvement of assembly construction

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Fei

2017-11-01

Based on the acceleration of the urbanization process and the improvement of the quality of life of our residents, the demand for building construction has been increasing. In this context, the construction industry in order to promote the construction efficiency, quality improvement, to meet the needs of the development of the times to strengthen the new technology, the use of new technologies. At present, China’s engineering construction units in the process of carrying out the project to strengthen the use of assembly-type construction technology, which thus achieved for the traditional construction work low-level, high time-consuming issues, and promote the steady improvement of production efficiency. Based on this, this paper focuses on the analysis of the connotation of the assembly structure and analyzes the quality problems in the construction process of the construction projects and puts forward the improvement measures to promote the improvement of the building quality and the construction of the building Construction speed. Based on this, this paper analyzes the structural system and design of prefabricated building.

Trinity of Quality Improvement : Studies on structure, process and outcome related to quality improvement in long-term care in the Netherlands between 2007 and 2011

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.C.M. Winters-van der Meer (Sjenny)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This thesis discusses quality improvement in long-term care organisations in the Netherlands. It explores the influencing factors on quality improvement and aims at identifying opportunities for long-term care organisations to ‘improve their improvement’. This