Quality in primary care
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Quality in primary care · Jan 2011
ReviewA strategy for the implementation of a quality indicator system in German primary care.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) has had a major impact on the quality of care in British general practice. It is seen as a major innovation amongst quality indicator systems and as a result various countries are looking at whether such initiatives could be used in their primary care. In Germany also the development of similar schemes has started. ⋯ For the successful implementation of a quality indicator system in German primary care a number of key issues, as presented in this article, need to be taken into account.
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Quality in primary care · Jan 2011
The SHARE frailty instrument for primary care predicts incident disability in a European population-based sample.
The adoption of a frailty paradigm in primary care would be helpful to identify adults who need priority access to specialised resources. The frailty phenotype by Fried et al is a popular operationalisation of frailty, but it is not easily applicable in routine primary care practice. We recently created and validated a frailty instrument based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-FI), in order to provide primary care practitioners with an easy, reliable and freely accessible tool for the assessment and monitoring of frailty in community dwelling adults over the age of 50 years (www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2318/10/57). ⋯ SHARE-FI may contribute to quality in primary care by offering a quick and reliable way to assess and monitor frailty in community dwelling individuals over the age of 50 and prioritize their access to resources, and it serves as a novel tool for audit and research.
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Quality in primary care · Jan 2011
Building high functioning clinical teams through quality improvement initiatives.
Team-based care has consistently been associated with improved clinical outcomes. However, strategies for promoting and sustaining a team-based approach in family medicine practice are more elusive. ⋯ These findings suggest a strategic role for clinical performance feedback linked to team initiated quality improvement initiatives for improving both clinical outcomes and clinical team-based care.
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Quality in primary care · Jan 2011
Developing quality indicators for community services: the case of district nursing.
Quality indicators exist for the acute and primary care sectors in the National Health Service (NHS), but until recently little attention has been given to measuring the quality of community services. The innovative project described in this paper attempted to address that gap. ⋯ Developing quality indicators for community services is time consuming and resource intensive. A range of skills are needed including clinical expertise, project management and skills in evidence-based medicine. The commitment and involvement of front-line professionals is crucial.