International Journal for Quality in Health Care

http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org

List of Papers (Total 456)

Prevalence of preventable medication-related hospitalizations in Australia: an opportunity to reduce harm

Objective To identify the prevalence of potentially preventable medication-related hospitalizations amongst elderly Australian veterans by applying clinical indicators to administrative claims data.

Using client experiences for quality improvement in long-term care organizations

Objective To examine whether client experiences measured with the Consumer Quality Index (CQ-index or CQI) questionnaires are used in Dutch nursing homes and homes for the elderly for quality improvement.

Public perceptions of key performance indicators of healthcare in Alberta, Canada

Objective To examine the relationship between public perceptions of key performance indicators assessing various aspects of the health-care system.

New paradigms for measuring clinical performance using electronic health records

Measures of provider success are the centerpiece of quality improvement and pay-for-performance programs around the globe. In most nations, these measures are derived from administrative records, paper charts and consumer surveys; increasingly, electronic patient record systems are also being used. We use the term ‘e-QMs’ to describe quality measures that are based on data found...

Putting theory into practice: the introduction of obstetric near-miss case reviews in the Republic of Moldova†

Quality issue The quality of obstetric services remains a major issue in the Republic of Moldova. Services are well staffed and intensively used but do not deliver the expected outputs.

Predictors of perceived empathy among patients visiting primary health-care centers in central Ethiopia

Background Empathy is crucial to the achievement of patient centeredness consultations. However, it has not been frequently studied particularly in resource-limited settings.

Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Initiative: from evidence to action in seven developing country hospitals

Quality problem Recent evidence in the level of patient safety from hospitals in six developing countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region has demonstrated the high prevalence of adverse events, the excessive rate of death and permanent disability and their high preventability. The Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Initiative (PSFHI) has been launched to respond to these...

Look back and talk openly: responding to and communicating about the risk of large-scale error in pathology diagnoses†

Quality problem or issue In 2005 we were informed about the possibility of a systemic error in pathology diagnoses of ∼7400 histological tests done between 4 and 6 years earlier.

Causes of inappropriate hospital days: development and validation of a French assessment tool for rehabilitation centres

Objective To develop and validate a list of criteria to assess the causes of inappropriate hospital days for patients admitted to rehabilitation centres and sub-acute care units.

Tearing down walls: opening the border between hospital and ambulatory care for quality improvement in Germany

The hospital benchmarking system in Germany was originally introduced to detect unintended consequences of reimbursement based on diagnosis-related groups. The new nationwide SQG programme aims to provide information on quality and outcomes of health care provided in hospital, ambulatory specialist and primary care settings, including the healthcare delivery across different...

Impact of format and content of visual display of data on comprehension, choice and preference: a systematic review

Purpose Displays comparing the performance of healthcare providers are largely based on commonsense. To review the literature on the impact of compositional format and content of quantitative data displays on people's comprehension, choice and preference.

Talking openly: using ‘6D cards’ to facilitate holistic, patient-led communication

Objective The study investigates the effectiveness and acceptability of a communication tool (the ‘6D Cards’) in facilitating holistic, patient-led communication in medical consultations.

What do we know about patients' perceptions of continuity of care? A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

Objective The increasing complexity in healthcare delivery might impede the achievement of continuity of care, being defined as ‘one patient experiencing care over time as coherent and linked’. This article aims to improve the knowledge on patients' perceptions of relational (RC), informational (IC) and management continuity (MC) across care levels.

Evaluation of the Pharmacy Safety Climate Questionnaire in European community pharmacies

Objective To evaluate the internal reliability, factor structure and construct validity of the Pharmacy Safety Climate Questionnaire (PSCQ) when applied to a pan-European sample of community pharmacies.

A web-based diabetes intervention for physician: a cluster-randomized effectiveness trial

Objective To determine the effectiveness of a provider-based education and implementation intervention for improving diabetes control.

Twelve-year follow-up of a population-based primary care diabetes program in Israel

Objective To describe the effects of a long-term intervention including 72% of Israeli diabetes patients, aimed at improving diabetes care in a primary care setting.

Effects of between visit physician–patient communication on Diabetes Recognition Program scores

Objective To determine whether physicians who interact with their patients between office visits using secure messaging and phone provide better care for patients with diabetes when controlling for physician, patient and care center characteristics.

Classifying indicators of quality: a collaboration between Dutch and English regulators

Introduction Many approaches to measuring quality in healthcare exist, generally employing indicators or metrics. While there are important differences, most of these approaches share three key areas of measurement: safety, effectiveness and patient experience. The European Partnership for Supervisory Organisations in Health Services and Social Care (EPSO) exists as a working...

Patients' evaluations of European general practice—revisited after 11 years

Background In the last decade many things have changed in healthcare systems, primary care practices and populations.

Are United States and Canadian cancer screening rates consistent with guideline information regarding the age of screening initiation?

Objective To understand whether US and Canadian breast, colorectal and prostate cancer screening test utilization is consistent with US and Canadian cancer screening guideline information with respect to the age of screening initiation.

How can managers in the hospital in the home units help to balance technology and physician–patient knowledge?†

Background With the passing of time, knowledge like other resources can become obsolete. Thus, people in a healthcare system need to update their knowledge in order to keep pace with the ongoing changes in their operational environment. Information technology continually provides a great amount of new knowledge which can lead to healthcare professionals becoming overloaded with...

Wristbands as aids to reduce misidentification: an ethnographically guided task analysis

Objectives Wristbands are recommended in the UK as a means of verifying patient identity but have been little studied. We aimed to document how wristbands are used in practice.

Clinical audit: a useful tool for reducing severe postpartum haemorrhages?

Objective Reducing the rate of severe postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is a major challenge in obstetrics today. One potentially effective tool for improving the quality of care is the clinical audit, that is, peer evaluation and comparison of actual practices against explicit criteria. Our objective was to assess the impact of regular criteria-based audits on the prevalence of...

Does spirometry training in general practice improve quality and outcomes of asthma care?

Objective Clinical asthma guidelines recommend spirometry for asthma diagnosis, but there is inconsistent evidence about benefits to patients in using it for ongoing management. Our aim was to determine whether training in the use of spirometry for management of asthma provided better health outcomes and improved the quality of care in the primary care setting.