Measuring Quality
Addressing quality is a common, daily occurrence in the clinical lab. And as medical professionals, you're well aware of the significance of continuous quality improvement, quality assurance/control and more. You now have an opportunity to view how other medical professionals' address and measure quality initiatives.
The National Priorities Partnership (NPP), a group of healthcare leaders convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF), just released case studies addressing application of priorities for improving healthcare. Specifically, the case studies explore ways various priority areas are reflected in organizational processes, plans or policies, or “otherwise affected each organization’s work,” notes a NPP press release. The participating organizations and areas of focus are:
· HealthPartners, an integrated healthcare system in Bloomington, MN. Its focus is on how the organization leveraged NPP championing of population health and reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
· Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute, a healthcare provider serving 9 million people in nine states and the District of Columbia. Their case study is on care coordination and transitions.
· The North Carolina Quality Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety, which focuses on its adoption of national priorities to serve as a framework and foster improvements in patient safety at hospitals state-wide.
· The Pharmacy Quality Alliance, a membership organization that promotes appropriate medication use and develops strategies for measuring and reporting performance information related to medications.
· The Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which focuses on how the center leveraged NPP’s heightened attention to reduce the overuse of care and improve patient and family engagement in care.