Quality Assessment And Performance Improvement Programme (qapi): From 1 Different Sources
QAPI establishes strategies for promoting high quality health care. First, each organization must meet certain required levels of performance when providing specific health care and related services. Second, organizations must conduct performance improvement projects that are outcome-oriented and that achieve demonstrable and sustained improvement in care and services. It is expected that an organization will continuously monitor its own performance on a variety of dimensions of care and services, identify its own areas for potential improvement, carry out individual projects to undertake system interventions to improve care, and monitor the effectiveness of those interventions.
See “geriatric assessment”.... assessment
This is a structured, multi-disciplinary process for assessing and improving the health consequences of projects and policies in the non-health sector. It combines a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence in preparing conclusions. Applications of the assessments include appraisal of national policies, local urban planning, and the progress of transport, water and agricultural projects.... health impact assessment
A systematic procedure for determining the nature and extent of problems experienced by a specified population that affect their health, either directly or indirectly. Needs assessment makes use of epidemiological, sociodemographic and qualitative methods to describe health problems and their environmental, social, economic and behavioural determinants. See also “geriatric assessment”.... health needs assessment
The product of the interplay between social, health, economic and environmental conditions which affect human and social development. It is a broad-ranging concept, incorporating a person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and relationship to salient features in the environment. As people age, their quality of life is largely determined by their ability to access needed resources and maintain autonomy and independence.... quality of life
The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences.... risk assessment
Multidisciplinary team of health professionals that is responsible for comprehensive assessments of the needs of older persons, including their suitability for hospital, home or institutional care.... aged care assessment team
A process that allows a person who has been assessed to dispute the assessment, and which provides for the assessment to be changed.... assessment appeal process
A structured process developed to ensure that assessment is relevant, consistent, fair and valid. The system requires rules of operation, a regular review process and competent assessors.... assessment system
A documented arrangement of integrated care, based on the analysed needs of a specific group of people, from intake to supply of care and services, as well as the intended outcomes, and including a description of the way the arrangement should be applied in order to match the needs of individual persons.... care programme
The outcome of care/service from an individual/user’s point of view. It is how well the care service supports the client/user to improve his/her quality of life.... client quality
An instrument that estimates the extent to which a health care provider delivers clinical services that are appropriate for each patient’s condition; provides them safely, competently and in an appropriate time-frame; and achieves desired outcomes in terms of those aspects of patient health and patient satisfaction that can be affected by clinical services.... clinical performance measure
See HEALTHCARE COMMISSION.... commission for health improvement
The ongoing process of evaluating the health needs of a community. Usually facilitates prioritization of needs and a strategy to address them.... community health needs assessment
A process which includes a multidimensional assessment of a person with increasing dependency, including medical, physical, cognitive, social and spiritual components. Can also include the use of standardized assessment instruments and an interdisciplinary team to support the process.... comprehensive geriatric assessment (cga)
Delivery of meals and socialization activities to older adults in a designated location.... congregate meals programme
Multidimensional, interdisciplinary, diagnostic process used to quantify an older individual’s medical, psychosocial and functional capabilities and problems, with the intention of arriving at a comprehensive plan for therapy and long-term follow-up.... geriatric assessment
See “aged care assessment team”.... geriatric assessment team
The systematic evaluation of properties, effects and/or impacts of health care technology. It may address the direct, intended consequences of technologies as well as their indirect, unintended consequences.... health care technology assessment (hcta)
An organized series of activities directed towards the attainment of defined health objectives and targets.... health programme
The systematic evaluation of the properties, effects or other impacts of health care technology. HTA is intended to inform decision-makers about health technologies and may measure the direct or indirect consequences of a given technology or treatment.... health technology assessment (hta)
Individual outcome measure that extends beyond traditional measures of mortality and morbidity to include such dimensions as physiology, function, social activity, cognition, emotion, sleep and rest, energy and vitality, health perception and general life satisfaction (some of these are also known as health status, functional status or quality-of-life measures).... health-related quality-of-life (hrql) measure
See “community-based care”.... home and community-based services; home and community care programme
An organization offering advice and practical assistance to older people who need to repair, improve or adapt their homes.... home improvement agency
See “care plan”.... individual programme plan
Launched in 1999 in England and Wales as CHI, this is an inspectorate charged with protecting patients from ‘unacceptable failings in the National Health Service’. A statutory body under the 1999 Health Act, it evaluates and re?nes local systems designed to safeguard standards of clinical quality. Working separately from the NHS and the health departments, it o?ers an independent safeguard that provides systems to monitor and improve clinical quality in primary care, community services and hospitals. As of 2004 it became responsible for dealing with patients’ complaints if they could not be settled by the trust concerned. The board members include health professionals, academics and eight lay members. Scotland has set up a similar statutory body. (See APPENDIX 7: STATUTORY ORGANISATIONS.)... healthcare commission (commission for health improvement)
An assessment of people with health and social care needs by two or more professionals from different disciplines.... multidisciplinary assessment
See “geriatric assessment”.... needs assessment
A set of strategies to address an individual’s pain management requirements and supportive of the individual’s pain control.... pain management programme
Standardized tools to determine patient characteristics and abilities, what assistance they need and how they may be helped to improve or regain abilities. Patient assessment forms are completed using information gathered from medical records, interviews with the patient, other informants (e.g. family members) and direct observation.... patient assessment (resident)
The level of attainment of a goal in comparison to a given effort.... performance
Criteria to be used to measure/assess performance.... performance criteria
Methods or instruments to estimate or monitor the extent to which the actions of an individual practitioner or whole programme conform to practice standards of quality or allow comparisons between services.... performance measure or indicator
Documented verification of the appropriateness of critical process parameters, operating ranges and system reproducibility over an appropriate time period... performance- qualification
An organized aggregate of activities directed towards the attainment of defined objectives and targets which are progressively more specific than the goals to which they contribute. See “health programme”; “care programme”.... programme
The process of making resources available to attain the objectives of programmes. Programme budgeting differs from ordinary budgeting in that the emphasis is on the results to be achieved rather than on unconnected budgetary items. The objectives and targets of the programme are defined clearly and, in order to attain them, the resources required are grouped together, those who will receive them specified, and their sources determined.... programme budgeting
The systematic assessment of the relevance, adequacy, progress, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of a programme.... programme evaluation / review
A system of management which involves the integration of planning, resourcing and evaluation processes to achieve stated outcomes.... programme management
Standardized procedures, methods or philosophy for collecting, processing or analysing data, which is performed on an ongoing basis and aimed at maintaining or improving the appropriateness and reliability of health care services.... quality assurance (qa)
An instrument for quality enhancement and quality assurance which uses groups of peers to assess and discuss the quality of their own work and develop strategies for improvement.... quality circle
The sum of all the activities which prevent unwanted change in quality. In the health care setting, quality control requires a repeated series of feedback loops which monitor and evaluate the care of the individual (and other elements in the health care process). These feedback loops involve checking the care being delivered against standards of care, identification of any problems or opportunities for improvement, and prompt corrective action, so that the quality is maintained.... quality control (qc)
The sum of all the activities which create desired change in quality. In the health care setting, quality improvement requires a feedback loop which involves the identification of patterns of the care of individuals (or of the performance of other systems involved in care), the analysis of those patterns in order to identify opportunities for improvement (or instances of departure from standards of care), and then action to improve the quality of care for future patients. An effective quality improvement system results in step-by-step increases in quality of care.... quality improvement / continuous quality improvement
The quality of non-clinical attributes of health care units, such as cleanliness of the facility, adequacy of the furniture and quality of the food.... quality of basic amenities
The degree to which delivered health services meet established professional standards and are judged to be of value to the consumer. Quality may also be seen as the degree to which actions taken or not taken maximize the probability of beneficial health outcomes and minimize risk and other outcomes, given the existing state of medical science and art.... quality of care
Years of life saved by a medical technology or service, adjusted according to the quality of those years (as determined by some evaluative measure). QALYs are the most commonly used unit to express the results in some types of cost-effectiveness analysis.... quality-adjusted life years (qalys)
The process whereby a person is assessed for care needs using one form/mechanism so that agencies do not duplicate each other’s assessment.... single assessment process
A comprehensive form of policy research that examines the technical, economic and social consequences of technological applications.... technology assessment
TQM is synonymous with continuous quality improvement (CQI). It is an integrative management concept of continuously improving the quality of delivered goods and services through the participation of all level and functions of the organization to meet the needs and expectations of the customer.... total quality management (tqm)
See “client quality”.... user quality
Through volunteers or community workers, a service providing companionship and support for older people who may be lonely and isolated.... visiting service / visitor programme
(CQC) a publicly funded independent organization established in 2009 and responsible for regulation of health and social care in England; it replaced the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and the Mental Health Act Commission. The responsibilities of the commission include publication of national health-care standards; annual assessment of the performance of NHS and social-care organizations; reviewing other (i.e. private and voluntary) health- and social-care organizations; reviewing complaints about the services when it has not been possible to resolve them locally; and investigating serious service failures.... care quality commission
(CHAPS) a questionnaire designed to assess children’s hearing abilities in certain situations. It is used in the diagnosis of *auditory processing disorder.... children’s auditory performance scale
(DLQI) a validated questionnaire designed by Finlay in 1994 to assess the impact of skin diseases on psychological and social wellbeing. It is the most common *quality of life tool used as an endpoint in dermatology clinical trials. DLQI scores of more than 10 (indicating a severe impact on life) are required before biological treatments for psoriasis may be administered in the UK.... dermatology life quality index
a two-year programme of postgraduate medical training, introduced as part of the Modernizing Medical Careers initiative in 2005. Foundation year 1 replaced the old preregistration house officer year, and foundation year 2 replaced the first year of senior house officer training. See also Doctor.... foundation programme
(NCAS) see Practitioner Performance Advice.... national clinical assessment service
a scoring system used to quantify a patient’s activity level and general wellbeing in order to assess the patient’s suitability for chemotherapy or for taking part in a clinical trial. Commonly used systems include the WHO performance scale, scoring from 0 (fully active, feeling well) to 4 or 5 (very ill or near to death), and the Karnofsky scale, scoring from 0 (very ill) to 100 (feeling well).... performance status
an interviewing technique that combines psychiatric history taking with elements of problem solving in *psychotherapy: after a psychiatric history has been elicited, the interviewer summarizes the patient’s difficulties and offers potential solutions. It is often used in patients who have presented with *deliberate self-harm, and research suggests that it offers the possibility of reducing repetition rates in such patients.... psychosocial assessment
(QOF) a system, introduced as part of the new general medical services (nGMS) contract (see general practitioner), whereby practices are rewarded for implementing good medical practice. There are four main domains: clinical, organizational, patient experience, and additional services. Each domain has various criteria based on best practice, which have a number of points allocated for achievement. The points are collated at the end of the financial year and converted into payment for the practice.... quality and outcomes framework
setting, monitoring, and maintaining standards for the quality of a service. See clinical governance.... quality assurance