Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- List of figures, tables and boxes
- Preface
- Part I Theoretical overview
- Part II Changes and conflicts
- 11 Medical leadership skills: what is needed to be a successful leader?
- 12 Understanding systems
- 13 Working with the team
- 14 Managing multicultural and multinational teams in healthcare
- 15 Management of change
- 16 Managing the psychiatrist's performance
- 17 Revalidation for psychiatrists
- 18 Quality improvement tools
- 19 Quality and quality governance
- 20 Measurement of needs
- 21 Service users’ expectations
- 22 Clinical audit
- 23 Confidentiality and management in healthcare organisations
- 24 Patient complaints: every doctor's business
- 25 Mental health review tribunals. Or, tribunals, and how to survive them
- Part III Personal development
- Index
18 - Quality improvement tools
from Part II - Changes and conflicts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- List of figures, tables and boxes
- Preface
- Part I Theoretical overview
- Part II Changes and conflicts
- 11 Medical leadership skills: what is needed to be a successful leader?
- 12 Understanding systems
- 13 Working with the team
- 14 Managing multicultural and multinational teams in healthcare
- 15 Management of change
- 16 Managing the psychiatrist's performance
- 17 Revalidation for psychiatrists
- 18 Quality improvement tools
- 19 Quality and quality governance
- 20 Measurement of needs
- 21 Service users’ expectations
- 22 Clinical audit
- 23 Confidentiality and management in healthcare organisations
- 24 Patient complaints: every doctor's business
- 25 Mental health review tribunals. Or, tribunals, and how to survive them
- Part III Personal development
- Index
Summary
We as professionals aspire to deliver high-quality services and our patients desire and deserve high-quality services. We all know and recognise quality but often it is difficult to define and deliver high-quality services as there are variations in resources across healthcare systems. This chapter begins by defining quality and goes on to discuss quality improvement criteria and principles; tools for measuring improvements in the quality of services are then presented.
Definitions
What is quality?
Quality in healthcare is difficult to define and may have a number of different interpretations. A simple definition is the ‘degree of excellence’ in healthcare. The Institute of Medicine defines quality in healthcare as a direct correlation between the level of improved health services and the desired health outcomes of individuals and populations.1 An understanding of the meaning of quality is key to the process of quality improvement. Healthcare excellence is multidimensional and has the following characteristics:2
• safe – avoiding harm from care intended to help patients
• effective – beneficial, evidence-based service provision
• person-centred – empathic and responsive care based on individual needs and values
• timely – short waiting times and no detrimental delays
• efficient – avoidance of waste
• equitable – little individual variation in access to or quality of care.
While these dimensions often complement each other, it is inevitable that different situations will determine the prioritisation of one area over another.
What is quality improvement?
Again, this is a term which is often bandied about without clear definition. We propose that it is both aspirational and descriptive. Quality improvement consists of systematic and continual actions that lead to measurable improvement in healthcare services and the health status of targeted patient groups.
‘The combined and unceasing efforts of everyone – healthcare professionals, patients and their families, researchers, payers, planners and educators – to make the changes that will lead to better patient outcomes (health), better system performance (care) and better professional development (learning).’ (Batalden & Davidoff, 2007)
What processes lead to quality improvement?
A number of processes have been linked with broad and enduring improvement to health services.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Management for Psychiatrists , pp. 248 - 276Publisher: Royal College of PsychiatristsPrint publication year: 2016