• Kathleen Leemans, L Deliens, L Van den Block, R Vander Stichele, A L Francke, and J Cohen.
• 1 End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
• Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2017 Jul 1; 34 (6): 532-546.

BackgroundA feasibility evaluation of a comprehensive quality indicator set for palliative care identified the need for a minimal selection of these indicators to monitor quality of palliative care services with short questionnaires for the patients, caregivers, and family carers.ObjectivesTo develop a minimal indicator set for efficient quality assessment in palliative care.DesignA 2 round modified Research ANd Development corporation in collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles (RAND/UCLA) expert consultation.Setting/PatientsThirteen experts in palliative care (professionals and patient representatives).MeasurementsIn a home assignment, experts were asked to score 80 developed indicators for "priority" to be included in the minimal set on a scale from 0 (lowest priority) to 9 (highest priority). The second round consisted of a plenary meeting in which the minimal set was finalized.ResultsThirty-nine of the 80 indicators were discarded, while 19 were definitely selected after the home assignment, and 22 were proposed for discussion during the meeting; 12 of these survived the selection round. The final minimal indicator set for palliative care consists of 5 indicators about the physical aspects of care; 6 about the psychosocial aspects of care; 13 about information, communication, and care planning; 5 about type of care; and 2 about continuity of care.ConclusionA minimal set of 31 indicators reflecting all the important issues in palliative care was created for palliative care services to assess the quality of their care in a quick and efficient manner. Additional topic-specific optional modules are available for more thorough assessment of specific aspects of care.

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