[EQ] Getting the measure of quality

Getting the measure of quality

Opportunities and challenges

Veena S Raleigh, Senior Fellow in the policy directorate at The King’s Fund working on quality measurement and epidemiological issues.

Catherine Foot, Senior Fellow in the policy directorate at The King’s Fund. She is currently managing a programme of work on delivering the quality agenda

The King’s Fund 2010

 

Available online PDF [36p.] at: http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/research/publications/quality_measures.html

 

“……Another aspect of quality that has received relatively little focus in the context of the quality measurement initiatives following the Next Stage Review is that of inequalities.

Health care (preventive and curative) should be provided on the basis of clinical need, regardless of personal characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status or geographical location, and it should aim to reduce differences in health status, access to services and outcomes across population sub-groups.

Equality legislation also mandates requirements for equity, and the Marmot Review has put a renewed focus on health inequalities (Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England 2009). England has been among the international leaders in terms of setting targets and driving cross-government and public health policies to reduce health inequalities (Department of Health 2009b). Although health inequalities have continued to widen, they remain a top priority for the government. But the quality agenda has not yet encompassed the measurement of inequalities and equity and currently lacks an explicit focus on reducing inequalities….”

Content:

Introduction

1 Defining quality: what are we measuring?

Domains of quality

Efficiency, productivity and value for money

Equity and health inequalities

Measurement across pathways and between organisations

Not everything that matters can be measured

2 Who uses quality measures and for what purpose?

Audiences for measures of quality

The aims of measurement should determine what and how we measure

Interpretation matters: what measures of quality can and can’t tell you

The importance of a coherent policy framework for quality improvement

3 The potential impact of measuring quality

Use for measurement to improve the quality of health care

International comparisons and benchmarking

Potential for unintended consequences

4 Practical issues to consider when choosing and using quality measures

Selection of indicators

Data sources: current versus new

Data coverage and quality

Reporting on data quality

Some methodological and related issues

Centrally versus locally produced indicators

Evaluating and refining indicators

5 Conclusions

Useful reading

References

 

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