Quality of care: Do we care?

Article Abstract:

The quality of the health care delivered in this country has been the subject of much debate in recent years, both in the medical literature and the press. While some suggest that the health care provided in the US is the best in the world, others point out that Americans are not getting the high quality care that the money invested in it should provide. Several mechanisms have been proposed that might involve every physician in the pursuit of better quality health care. Increasing one's knowledge about the effectiveness of the care provided is important. Knowledge about a therapy's effectiveness must include information about how that therapy will affect the quality of the patient's life. Enrolling all physicians in the verification of treatment effectiveness will be necessary. To permit all physicians to participate in what would be a massive, nationwide research project, participation should be easy and rewarding, both professionally and financially. One mechanism that has been proposed would be to provide, at the government's expense, computers and software that could identify patients as potential research subjects. Improving the quality of the care provided requires attention to several areas, including the appropriateness of the technology offered, the competence of the physician, and the patient's dignity. Ensuring that a technology or therapy is appropriate should help to reduce complications from unnecessary procedures, as well as the costs arising from such procedures. Variability in the outcome of a given procedure, based on different patient circumstances, must also be studied. If these and similar measures are adopted, then the US will begin to offer health care of good quality. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, United States, editorial

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How much are we willing to pay for information about quality of care?

Article Abstract:

The medical profession and general public need to determine the worth of quality of care information and whether they will pay it. Medical care costs instead of quality have increasingly driven the medical care decision making process. However, obtaining information about medical care quality can also be costly. Needed information may be available electronically but also may be technically difficult to link. There is also debate about what information is appropriate when evaluating medical quality.

Editorial, Usage, Total quality management

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Process-based measures of quality: the need for detailed clinical data in large health care databases

Article Abstract:

The addition of several important pieces of patient information to developing electronic databases could save future researchers the expense and time in evaluating individual patient records. Suggestions include family history, patient response to treatment, and test results. Large databases are providing researchers with extensive and valuable information for analyzing measurable health care quality based on accepted scientific knowledge.

Planning, Information management, Medical records, Centralized databases, Information storage and retrieval systems, Medical statistics

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