Quality and Safety

Healthcare practitioners work continuously toward providing the right care at the right time. Safe and high quality care includes making every effort to provide evidence-based therapies in the proper manner in the appropriate time frame. Making this a priority has been the mantra of high-quality care providers. This has been reinforced by two reports from the Institute of Medicine.  The landmark report on errors in the healthcare system raised the specter of serious safety issues inherent in the delivery of patient care. This was followed by a call for a new health system for the 21st century, one that emphasizes applying evidence to the delivery of healthcare, using information technology, aligning payment policies with quality improvement, and preparing the workforce for the transition to a new system.

Calls for enhancing safety and the quality of healthcare have increased awareness in the cost-conscious environment. The highly competitive healthcare market is forcing hospital administrators to examine services within their institutions for cost-effectiveness. Pay for performance is one driving factor, providing incentives for hospitals to develop quality measures and then maintain ongoing quality improvement programs. Managed care organizations, accreditation bodies, and government entities are seeking justification for services and requiring demonstration of both efficiency and efficacy.

Critical care practitioners must use their investigative and analytical skills to evaluate patient care.  Systematic approaches are used to evaluate and implement changes to improve care.  Critical care practitioners design studies and use statistical methods to appraise the effectiveness of diagnostic modalities, preventative therapies, and appropriate interventions.

These Web pages share the success stories of healthcare professionals who have successfully implemented quality practices within their institutions and furnish tools to help refine practice and decrease errors.