Quality Terminology

• Quality Terminology

Accreditation

• A formal process of evaluation.
• A recognized body assesses against standards.
• Typically done by a non-governmental institution.
• The evaluation confirms a healthcare organization meets pre-determined standards.

Benchmarking

• Used to enhance performance outcomes.
• Involves comparing practices either internally or externally.
• A process of searching out and studying the best practices.
• Aims to produce superior performance.

Best Practices

• The most up-to-date patient care interventions
• Scientifically shown to improve outcomes
• Minimizes risks such as death or complications.

Certification

• A process by which an authorized body evaluates.
• The authorized bodu can be governmental or non-governmental
• Recognizes either an individual or an organization.
• Confirms pre-determined requirements or criteria are met.

Clinical Measures

• Represents processes of care and patient outcomes.
• Important to ensure quality care.
• Measured consistently and accurately.
• Used to determine quality performance in clinical areas.
• Examples include tracking heart attack, pneumonia, or joint replacement outcomes.

Clinical Performance

• The extent of achieving desired health objectives.
• Involves a clinician or healthcare organization.

Clinical Performance Measure

• A subtype of quality measure used for assessment.
• Assesses how well a provider delivers clinical services.
• Focuses on whether the provider can deliver competently and safely.
• Appropriate for the patient during the optimal time period.

Clinical Practice Guidelines

• Systematically developed statements.
• Usually grounded in scientific evidence.
• Intended to aid practitioners.
• Supports decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific circumstances.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

• A management approach.
• Improves and maintains quality.
• Emphasizes internal assessments of potential defects.
• Actions taken to resolve quality defects early.
• Actions can aim at either avoiding or correcting decrease in quality

Health Outcomes

• The effect on health status from the performance.
• Includes morbidity and mortality.
• Physical, social, and mental functioning; nutritional status.
• Performance of one or more processes or activities.
• Must be carried out by healthcare providers.

The Joint Commission

• Evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations and programs.
• Operates in the United States.
• Functions as an independent, not-for-profit entity.
• Accreditation confirms it meets specific quality standards, reassessed every 3 years.

Magnet Hospital Status

• A designation by the Magnet Hospital Recognition Program.
• Program administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Outcome Measure

• Shows the result of performance of a function or process.
• Used regardless of the function or process being performed or not.

Patient Safety

• Refers to freedom from accidental or preventable injuries.
• Injuries are those produced by medical care.

Patient Satisfaction

• Involves reports or ratings from patients.
• Reports/ratings are about services received.
• Services are typically from a hospital, physician, or healthcare provider.

Patient Values

• Unique preferences, concerns, expectations that influence clinical encounters.
• Must be integrated into clinical decisions.
• Integration of factors is required to serve the patient effectively.

Patient-centered Care

• Respectful and responsive to the individual.
• Values patient preferences, needs, and their values.
• Ensures patient values guide clinical decisions.
• Provides care that is coordinated, communicative, and supportive.

Performance Measure

• Provides data for assessment.
• Measured as rate, ratio, index, or percentage.
• Assesses an organization's/provider's ability to ensure good outcomes.

Quality Healthcare

• The degree to which healthcare providers such as doctors, hospitals, and health plans function.
• Concerns the keeping of members healthy or treating those who are sick.
• Focuses on doing the right thing at the right time in the right way.
• Achieved for the right person, getting the best possible results.

Quality Assessment

• Determination of agreement between processes/services and current standards.
• Assessment also includes patient satisfaction with the care received.

Quality Assurance

• Activities to set standards.
• Activities to monitor ongoing performance.
• Activities to improve performance.
• Makes sure the care satisfies needs.
• Satisfies needs that are either explicitly stated or implicitly understood.

Quality Improvement

• Involves understanding needs of healthcare clients.
• An approach to investigate the processes of care.
• An approach to provide services that resolve a problem and is adequate for the current client

Quality Indicator

• An agreed-upon measure to indicate the level of quality achieved.
• A measurable variable or characteristic that provides insight.
• Can measure the degree of adherence to a standard.
• Can measure the achievement of quality goals

Quality Management

• Ongoing effort to meet or exceed customer expectations.
• Achieved through a structured, systematic approach.
• Used to engage in creating organizational participation.
• Used in planning and implementing quality improvements.

Quality Measure

• Referred to as a quality indicator.
• Converts medical information from patient records into a rate or percentage.
• Shows how well a hospital provides patient care.
• Helps consumers assess hospitals, health professionals, and physicians.

Quality Monitoring

• Involves collecting data for selected indicators.
• Includes analyzing that data.
• Enables managers to assess standards.
• Used to check key standards are achieved as planned.
• Identifies the effect on the target population.

Quality of Care

• The extent of healthcare services for individuals/populations to increase desired health outcomes.
• Must align with current professional knowledge.

Safe Practices

• Practices to reduce risk of harm.
• Reduction of harm comes from healthcare processes, practices, or systems.

Safety

• Injuires to patients are avoided.
• Aim to give the care that is intended to help them

Safety Culture

• Reflects a commitment to safety.
• Safety is emphasized throughout all levels.
• Includes frontline personnel to top management within the organization.

Satisfaction Measures

• Assesses patients' and practitioners' satisfaction levels.
• Measures assess the degree to which needs have been fulfilled.
• Measured for patients, enrollees, practitioners, and purchasers.

Sentinel Event

• Results in patient death or serious harm.
• Unexpected or not acceptable.
• Includes events like surgery on the wrong patient/body part.

Six Sigma

• A methodology improving organizational capabilities.
• Tool to aid business processes.
• Helps increase performance.
• Decreases process variation.
• Leads to defect reduction.
• Leads to improvement in profit, morale, and quality.

Standard of Care

• Objective measure for comparison.
• Supported by expert consensus.
• Supported due to specific research and documentation.
• Used to compare individual or organizational performance

Timeliness

• Ability to provide care at the appropriate time.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

• Emphasizes understanding needs/desires of ultimate service recipient
• Must have knowledge of data-related techniques to assess an issue.
• Provides a service viewpoint within the chain.
• Involves all members of a production unit.