The quality improvement system in the hospitals of Padua (Italy).

A quality improvement system has been established in 1989 in the hospital network of Padua and its organization is described. Three selected experiences are reported. (1) Appropriateness of the use of human albumin. After the assessment of the clinical policy, new guidelines were experimentally introduced and an evaluation after 3 months has shown a decrease of the total number of prescriptions (25%) and of inappropriate indications (9% vs 40.1%). (2) Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) and indwelling catheterization. The study showed 49% of conditions related to UTI and some corrigible inadequacies in the process of care: 37.2% of indications were probably not justified; 40% of patients who did not undergo urineculture had indications and 13% who underwent urineculture had no indications to the test. Guidelines for appropriate indications and a continuing education programme have been introduced. (3) Falls by hospitalized patients. The patient fall rate was 0.3/1000. As the reporting system showed inaccuracies (for example, the severity of injury was not collected in 34% of cases), a new notification form was introduced in 1991.