Quality & Patient Safety

Quality measurement, monitoring, and analysis

Patient Safety Monitor (Briefings on Patient Safety), September 1, 2009

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Developing the right metrics—valid, reliable, feasible, meaningful, and action-oriented—is critical to the success of a quality improvement (QI) program. Measurement can seem costly in time and energy, but it should be an investment that yields significant benefits for patients/customers and process improvement. Measurement is most expensive when it is performed poorly, because it leads to waste and missed opportunities.
Your organization probably has a definition of quality. A commonly used definition is that shared by The Joint Commission and the Institute of Medicine: “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.”

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Patient Safety Monitor (Briefings on Patient Safety).

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