International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care
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Int J Qual Health Care · Jan 2021
Human factors/ergonomics to support the design and testing of rapidly manufactured ventilators in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This paper describes a rapid response project from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (CIEHF) to support the design, development, usability testing and operation of new ventilators as part of the UK response during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The documents are part of a wider collection of HFE advice which is available on the CIEHF COVID-19 website (https://covid19.ergonomics.org.uk/).
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Int J Qual Health Care · Jan 2021
EditorialFrontiers in human factors: integrating human factors and ergonomics to improve safety and quality in Latin American healthcare systems.
The importance of human factors/ergonomics (HFE) is well established in all high-reliability systems but only applied in the healthcare sector relatively recently. Across many sectors, low-/middle-income countries (LMICs) lag behind more economically developed countries in their application of this safety science, due to resource and, in some cases, awareness and expertise. Most previous applications of HFE related to occupational ergonomics rather than healthcare safety. ⋯ There is a real opportunity in LatAm and other LMIC health services to make more rapid and sustainable progress in healthcare-embedded HFE than has been experienced within healthcare services of more developed nations.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Apr 2020
Quality control circle: a tool for enhancing perceptions of patient safety culture among hospital staff in Chinese hospitals.
To explore whether quality control circle (QCC) is associated with hospital staff's perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC). ⋯ QCC implementation was positively associated with PSC and the former could promote the establishment of the latter. It is suggested that QCC can play an active role in enhancing PSC so as to further improve patient safety management.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Feb 2020
Comparative StudyUsing accreditation surveyors to conduct health services research: a qualitative, comparative study in Australia.
Healthcare accreditation surveyors are well positioned to gain access to hospitals and apply their existing data collection skills to research. Consequently, we contracted and trained a surveyor cohort to collect research data for the Deepening our Understanding of Quality in Australia (DUQuA) project. The aim of this study is to explore and compare surveyors' perceptions and experiences in collecting quality and safety data for accreditation and for health services research. ⋯ Although hospital accreditation and research activities require different approaches to data collection, we found that suitably trained accreditation surveyors were able to perform both activities effectively. The barriers surveyors encountered when collecting data for research provide insight into the challenges that may be faced when visiting hospitals for short-notice accreditation.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Dec 2019
The 30-day unplanned readmission rate and hospital volume: a national population-based study in South Korea.
To examine the association between hospital volume and the unplanned 30-day readmission rate as a quality measure. ⋯ The standardized readmission rates were not associated with hospital volume, except for the neurology cohort, in which the standardized readmission rate was significantly higher in the highest-volume hospitals than in lowest- and intermediate-volume hospitals, which was not consistent with the typical association of greater hospital volume with better outcomes. This association was independent of hospital characteristics. Therefore, the rate of readmissions should be used with caution when gauging the quality of hospital care according to hospital volume.