{"title":"What does the future of quality improvement look like?","authors":"Amar Shah, Rosa Sunol","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae070","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae070","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11272959/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141590259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Divya Nair Narayanan, Samsiah Awang, Bruce Agins, Izzatur Rahmi Mohd Ujang, Nur Wahida Zulkifli, Normaizira Hamidi, Saidatul Sheeda Ahmad Shukri
{"title":"Giving meaning to quality of healthcare in Malaysia.","authors":"Divya Nair Narayanan, Samsiah Awang, Bruce Agins, Izzatur Rahmi Mohd Ujang, Nur Wahida Zulkifli, Normaizira Hamidi, Saidatul Sheeda Ahmad Shukri","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae063","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae063","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ensuring quality in healthcare calls for a coordinated, systematic, congruous, and sustained approach. Nevertheless, it demands defining what the quality of healthcare means in the local context. Presently, the Malaysian healthcare system utilizes various definitions of quality of healthcare across the different initiatives and levels of healthcare, which can lead to fragmented or ineffective quality improvement. The study aims to describe the process undertaken in developing an explicit definition of the quality of healthcare tailored to the Malaysian context, which is currently lacking. A pluralistic method was used to explore the different perspectives. Three distinct approaches were used to understand how quality is defined among the different stakeholder groups: (i) interactive policy-makers engagement sessions, (ii) a review of local quality-related documents, and (iii) an online survey engaging the public. The domains depicting quality of healthcare that emerged through these three approaches were mapped against a framework and synthesized to form the local definition of quality. A national quality-related technical working group convened on several sessions to achieve consensus and finalize the definition of quality of healthcare. Quality healthcare in Malaysia is defined as providing high-quality healthcare that is safe, timely, effective, equitable, efficient, people-centred, and accessible [STEEEPA] which is innovative and responsive to the needs of the people, and is delivered as a team, in a caring and professional manner in order to improve health outcomes and client experience. The consensus-driven local definition of healthcare quality will guide policies and ensure standardization in measuring quality, thereby steering efforts to improve the quality of healthcare services delivered in Malaysia.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11265505/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141467815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Muhammad Waqas, Song Hua Xu, Sajid Hussain, Muhammad Usman Aslam
{"title":"Control charts in healthcare quality monitoring: a systematic review and bibliometric analysis.","authors":"Muhammad Waqas, Song Hua Xu, Sajid Hussain, Muhammad Usman Aslam","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae060","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae060","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Control charts, used in healthcare operations to monitor process stability and quality, are essential for ensuring patient safety and improving clinical outcomes. This comprehensive research study aims to provide a thorough understanding of the role of control charts in healthcare quality monitoring and future perspectives by utilizing a dual methodology approach involving a systematic review and a pioneering bibliometric analysis. A systematic review of 73 out of 223 articles was conducted, synthesizing existing literature (1995-2023) and revealing insights into key trends, methodological approaches, and emerging themes of control charts in healthcare. In parallel, a bibliometric analysis (1990-2023) on 184 articles gathered from Web of Science and Scopus was performed, quantitatively assessing the scholarly landscape encompassing control charts in healthcare. Among 25 countries, the USA is the foremost user of control charts, accounting for 33% of all applications, whereas among 14 health departments, epidemiology leads with 28% of applications. The practice of control charts in health monitoring has increased by more than one-third during the last 3 years. Globally, exponentially weighted moving average charts are the most popular, but interestingly the USA remained the top user of Shewhart charts. The study also uncovers a dynamic landscape in healthcare quality monitoring, with key contributors, research networks, research hotspot tendencies, and leading countries. Influential authors, such as J.C. Benneyan, W.H. Woodall, and M.A. Mohammed played a leading role in this field. In-countries networking, USA-UK leads the largest cluster, while other clusters include Denmark-Norway-Sweden, China-Singapore, and Canada-South Africa. From 1990 to 2023, healthcare monitoring evolved from studying efficiency to focusing on conditional monitoring and flowcharting, with human health, patient safety, and health surveys dominating 2011-2020, and recent years emphasizing epidemic control, COronaVIrus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) statistical process control, hospitals, and human health monitoring using control charts. It identifies a transition from conventional to artificial intelligence approaches, with increasing contributions from machine learning and deep learning in the context of Industry 4.0. New researchers and journals are emerging, reshaping the academic context of control charts in healthcare. Our research reveals the evolving landscape of healthcare quality monitoring, surpassing traditional reviews. We uncover emerging trends, research gaps, and a transition in leadership from established contributors to newcomers amidst technological advancements. This study deepens the importance of control charts, offering insights for healthcare professionals, researchers, and policymakers to enhance healthcare quality. Future challenges and research directions are also provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141626645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Measuring the overall development of patient safety in a new hospital using trigger tools.","authors":"Ivan Adamovic, Peter Dahlem, Johannes Brachmann","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae064","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae064","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The new building of the Hospital in Lichtenfels (Germany) was put into operation in mid-July 2018. Neither the medical personnel nor medical departments have been changed. We want to evaluate how 'safe' or 'insecure' the new hospital or department in the beginning might have been. Our objective is to investigate if safety decreases at the beginning in a new hospital, despite modern environments and conditions. Adverse events (AEs) associated with treatment were included to evaluate the total number of AEs resulting from medical care and medications. Patients' records had to be closed and completed, the length of stay had to be at least 24 h, and the patient had to have been formally admitted to the hospital [Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) 'Global Trigger Tool' (GTT) recommendation]. The identified AEs were grouped into 27 categories of the IHI 'GTT'. We randomly reviewed 40 patient records per month 6 months before and 6 months after moving to the new hospital. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in individual AEs. The sum of AEs was statistically higher after moving into a new hospital. A complete number of harms did reach statistical significance (χ2 = 6.62; df = 1; P < .05; Cramer's V = 0.12), indicating that new environments 'trigger' significantly more potential errors (50%) in comparison to the old environments (38.33%). According to our findings, the new hospital appears to be slightly insecure in the first 6 months after opening.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141558738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Jean Ridge, John Arko-Mensah, Josh Lambert, Lydia Aziato, G Clinton Zeantoe, Henry Duah, Marjorie McCullagh
{"title":"Sharps injuries among healthcare workers in Liberia and Ghana: a cross-sectional survey.","authors":"Laura Jean Ridge, John Arko-Mensah, Josh Lambert, Lydia Aziato, G Clinton Zeantoe, Henry Duah, Marjorie McCullagh","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae066","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae066","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are little data on sharps injuries among healthcare workers in West Africa despite the region's high rate of hepatitis B and human immunodeficiency virus. The purpose of this study is to investigate healthcare workers' history of sharps injuries in Liberia and Ghana. An electronic cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Liberia and Ghana from February to June 2022. A link to the survey was texted to participants through professional association membership lists, including nursing, midwifery, and physician assistant organizations in both Liberia and Ghana and a physician organization in Ghana only. Five hundred and nine participants reported an average of 1.8 injuries per year in Liberia and 1.1 in Ghana (P ≤ .01); 15.1% of healthcare workers reported three or more injuries in the past year. Liberia had a higher proportion of frequently injured workers (P = .01). Frequently injured workers were evenly distributed across worker types. Workers in this region are vulnerable to sharps injuries. A frequently injured subset of workers likely has distinctive risk factors and would benefit from further investigation and intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11259047/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141558739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rebecca J Wessel, Christina G Rivera, Sara E Ausman, Nathaniel Martin, Shienna A Braga, Natalie T Hagy, Lindsay N Moreland-Head, Omar M Abu Saleh, Ognjen Gajic, Paul J Jannetto, Erin F Barreto
{"title":"Use of the DMAIC Lean Six Sigma quality improvement framework to improve beta-lactam antibiotic adequacy in the critically ill.","authors":"Rebecca J Wessel, Christina G Rivera, Sara E Ausman, Nathaniel Martin, Shienna A Braga, Natalie T Hagy, Lindsay N Moreland-Head, Omar M Abu Saleh, Ognjen Gajic, Paul J Jannetto, Erin F Barreto","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae062","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae062","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Beta-lactam antibiotics are widely used in the intensive care unit due to their favorable effectiveness and safety profiles. Beta-lactams given to patients with sepsis must be delivered as soon as possible after infection recognition (early), treat the suspected organism (appropriate), and be administered at a dose that eradicates the infection (adequate). Early and appropriate antibiotic delivery occurs in >90% of patients, but less than half of patients with sepsis achieve adequate antibiotic exposure. This project aimed to address this quality gap and improve beta-lactam adequacy using the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control Lean Six Sigma quality improvement framework. A multidisciplinary steering committee was formed, which completed a stakeholder analysis to define the gap in practice. An Ishikawa cause and effect (Fishbone) diagram was used to identify the root causes and an impact/effort grid facilitated prioritization of interventions. An intervention that included bundled education with the use of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM; i.e. drug-level testing) was projected to have the highest impact relative to the amount of effort and selected to address beta-lactam inadequacy in the critically ill. The education and TDM intervention were deployed through a Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle. In the 3 months after \"go-live,\" 54 episodes of beta-lactam TDM occurred in 41 unique intensive care unit patients. The primary quality metric of beta-lactam adequacy was achieved in 94% of individuals after the intervention. Ninety-four percent of clinicians gauged the education provided as sufficient. The primary counterbalance of antimicrobial days of therapy, a core antimicrobial stewardship metric, was unchanged over time (favorable result; P = .73). Application of the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control Lean Six Sigma quality improvement framework effectively improved beta-lactam adequacy in critically ill patients. The approach taken in this quality improvement project is widely generalizable to other drugs, drug classes, or settings to increase the adequacy of drug exposure.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11439991/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141491836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Attitude toward perioperative safety among operation room clinicians at Ethiopian University Hospital.","authors":"Yophtahe Woldegrima Berhe, Yonas Admasu Ferede, Biresaw Ayen, Tadesse Belayneh Melkie, Aklilu Yiheyis, Nurhusen Riskey Arefayne, Yosef Belay Bizuneh","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae051","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae051","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Patient safety is a fundamental of good quality and also a high priority for the health-care system. Maintaining patient safety reduces errors and harm that patients can suffer during health care. The operating room clinicians have a vital role in ensuring patient safety. The general objective of this study was to assess attitudes towards perioperative safety and associated factors among the operation room clinicians at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (UoGCSH), Northwest Ethiopia, 2022. A cross-sectional study was conducted on operation room clinicians at UoGCSH. The data were collected by using a self-administered structured questionnaire that included the Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ). Binary logistic regression analysis was employed, and the strength of association was described in adjusted odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 260 (76% response rate) operation room clinicians have participated in this study. The mean ± SD of attitude toward perioperative safety was 57.8 ± 0.9. Only 32 (12.3%) operation room clinicians have shown a favorable attitude toward perioperative safety. Most of the clinicians were found to have unfavorable attitudes toward all domains of SAQ except the stress recognition domain. Age >30 years [adjusted odds ratios (AOR): 3.1, CI: 1.1, 8.7, P = .035], working for ≥40 h/week (AOR: 3.9, CI: 1.4, 11.1, P = .01), working in ophthalmologic (AOR: 12.0, CI: 3.8, 38.8, P < .001) and gynecologic (AOR: 3.6, CI: 1.1, 12.7, P = .04) operation rooms, and having training on perioperative safety (AOR: 2.6, CI: 1.1, 6.5, P < .03) were found associated with having favorable attitude toward perioperative safety. Most operation room clinicians had an unfavorable attitude toward perioperative safety and all the domains of SAQ except the stress recognition domain. Older age ≥ 30 years, working for ≥40 h/week, having safety-related training, and working in ophthalmologic and gynecologic operation rooms were found associated with having a favorable attitude toward perioperative safety.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141300614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Addressing the challenge of reducing low-value care.","authors":"Rudolf B Kool, Eva W Verkerk, Simone A van Dulmen","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae061","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae061","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141467814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Seeking systems-based facilitators of safety and healthcare resilience: a thematic review of incident reports.","authors":"Catherine Leon, Helen Hogan, Yogini H Jani","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae057","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Patient safety incident reports are a key source of safety intelligence. This study aimed to explore whether information contained in such reports can elicit facilitators of safety, including responding, anticipating, monitoring, learning, and other mechanisms by which safety is maintained. The review further explored whether, if found, this information could be used to inform safety interventions. Anonymized incident reports submitted between August and October 2020 were obtained from two large teaching hospitals. The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) tool and the resilience potentials (responding, anticipating, monitoring, and learning) frameworks guided thematic analysis. SEIPS was used to explore the components of people, tools, tasks, and environments, as well as the interactions between them, which contribute to safety. The resilience potentials provided insight into healthcare resilience at individual, team, and organizational levels. Sixty incident reports were analysed. These included descriptions of all the SEIPS framework components. People used tools such as electronic prescribing systems to perform tasks within different healthcare environments that facilitated safety. All four resilient capacities were identified, with mostly individuals and teams responding to events; however, monitoring, anticipation, and learning were described for individuals, teams, and organizations. Incident reports contain information about safety practices, much of which is not identified by traditional approaches such as root cause analysis. This information can be used to enhance safety enablers and encourage greater proactive anticipation and system-level learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11233260/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141446097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M Emilia Monteiro, Francisca Sarmento, Filipe Froes, Mariana Alves
{"title":"The 'Silent Threat' in medical, surgical, and intensive care unit wards: a daytime and nighttime study.","authors":"M Emilia Monteiro, Francisca Sarmento, Filipe Froes, Mariana Alves","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae059","DOIUrl":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae059","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141450346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}