HCA 610 DQ Methods of Assessing Health Care Organizations’ Operational Needs
HCA 610 DQ Methods of Assessing Health Care Organizations’ Operational Needs
HCA 610 DQ Methods of Assessing Health Care Organizations’ Operational Needs
Compare and contrast at least two methods of assessing health care organizations’ operational needs and explain how they differ based upon a particular health care setting.
The WHO Working Group meeting on “Patient safety: rapid assessment methods for assessing
hazards” held in Geneva, Switzerland, 17-19 December 2002, defined seven criteria for
evaluating methods. The first four criteria relate to the intrinsic characteristics of the methods,
their validity, reliability and cost. Some of the literature directly addresses these issues. The last
three criteria relate more to the ability of methods to trigger improvements in safety cultures and
the quality of safety programmes (28). The seven criteria used to evaluate assessment methods
are as follows.
Effectiveness in capturing the extent of harm. Comparative studies, reporting the number of
events identified by one method as compared to a reference list or to another method (most often
the review of medical records), provide the most evidence-based information. We also report
non-comparative results. This criterion concerns the validity of methods, but absolute validity
HCA 610 DQ Methods of Assessing Health Care Organizations’ Operational Needs
cannot be ascertained since there is no gold standard method (29). Moreover, comparisons do not
really establish validity because the different methods provide different levels of qualitative and
quantitative assessment of hazards. Comparisons may bring out different aspects of hazard
measurement, therefore it is preferable to refer to the effectiveness of methods, rather than to
their validity. The effectiveness of the review of medical records has been the most extensively
studied because its use goes beyond the concerns of hazard identification: it is the usual method
for peer reviews and for investigating substandard care (30). Where available, information is
presented on the effectiveness of methods for studying the preventability and the underlying
causes of adverse events.
Availability of reliable data. Here we report the results of inter-observer reliability studies.
Suitability for large-scale or small, repeated studies. This criterion was addressed by abstracting
experiences of large-scale or small, repeated studies. The focus was essentially on acceptability
and feasibility, since cost is discussed separately. Large-scale studies refer to national and
regional studies. Small, repeated studies are carried out for a limited period at the hospital or
local level. This criterion relates to the validity of methods and to their acceptability by healthcare institutions and professionals.
Costs (financial, human resources, time and burden on system). There is no full economic
evaluation of the burden related to the implementation of various methods. We therefore report
the little information available on the human resources needed to implement the methods.
Obtaining such information is usually a secondary objective of the published studies, and no
details are available on how the calculations were performed. The financial burden obviously
varies widely, depending on health-care organization and country. The most useful information
comes from comparative studies. The viewpoint of the studies is usually the health-care
institutions, so the organizational and operating costs (the direct costs) are measured.
Effectiveness in influencing policy. The professional literature was analysed to find instances of
national, regional or local policy or strategic programmes being influenced by the publication of
data collected using the methods studied.
Effectiveness in influencing hospital and local safety procedures and outcomes. Here we describe
intervention studies evaluating the impact of hazard measurement on clinical practice and on
improving performance.
Synergy with other domains of quality of care. Here we report experiences of the use of methods
for assessing hazards in conjunction with continuous quality improvement and patient safety
programmes.
Use the following coupon code :
NursesHomework
