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 · Feb 2001
Quality of paediatric care: application and validation of an instrument for measuring parent satisfaction with hospital care.
To apply and validate an adapted version of an existing adult patient questionnaire in a study of parental satisfaction with paediatric care in a university hospital. ⋯ This study presents a valid and reliable questionnaire instrument for measuring parental views of paediatric hospital care. The instrument measures the quality of paediatric care from a broader perspective than previously existing parent questionnaires.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Dec 2000
Biography Historical ArticleAvedis Donabedian, 7 January 1919-9 November 2000.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Oct 2000
Comparative StudyA comparison of iatrogenic injury studies in Australia and the USA. I: Context, methods, casemix, population, patient and hospital characteristics.
To better understand the differences between two iatrogenic injury studies of hospitalized patients in 1992 which used ostensibly similar methods and similar sample sizes, but had quite different findings. The Quality in Australian Health Care Study (QAHCS) reported that 16.6% of admissions were associated with adverse events (AE), whereas the Utah, Colorado Study (UTCOS) reported a rate of 2.9%. ⋯ Five methodological differences accounted for some of the discrepancy between the two studies. Two explanations for the remaining three-fold disparity are that quality of care was worse in Australia and that medical record content and/or reviewer behaviour was different.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Oct 2000
Comparative StudyA comparison of iatrogenic injury studies in Australia and the USA. II: Reviewer behaviour and quality of care.
To better understand the remaining three-fold disparity between adverse event (AE) rates in the Quality in Australia Health Care Study (QAHCS) and the Utah-Colorado Study (UTCOS) after methodological differences had been accounted for. ⋯ A similar 2% core of serious AEs was found in both studies, but for the remaining categories six to seven times more AEs were reported in QAHCS than in UTCOS. We hypothesize that this disparity is due to different thresholds for admission and discharge and to a greater degree of under-reporting of certain types of problems as AEs by UTCOS than QAHCS reviewers. The biases identified were consistent with, and appropriate for, the quite different aims of each study. No definitive difference in quality of care was identified by these analyses or a literature review.
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Int J Qual Health Care · Aug 2000
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialImproving time-sensitive processes in the intensive care unit: the example of 'door-to-needle time' in acute myocardial infarction.
To assess and reduce delays in coronary thrombolysis in patients with acute myocardial infarction. ⋯ Formal process analysis, followed by implementation of revised guidelines resulted in a significant reduction of 'door-to-needle time'. An initial dramatic but transient reduction of 'door-to-needle time' was considered observational and must not be mistaken as the definite new level of performance. We conclude that formal process analysis techniques are suited to improve processes in the intensive care unit.