Considering the relevance of pursuing quality of care and patient safety to achieve Universal Health Coverage,the current health priorities and needs of the Romanian health-care system, this guidebook aims to supportpublic sector hospitals with implementation of evidence-based and feasible indicators to support nationaladoption of the Health Quality Fund in Romania.The evidence-based definitions and methodologies for the quality of care indicators proposed in thisguidebook resulted from a comprehensive multistep and co-creation approach with several stakeholders andhealth-care professionals. They tailor available evidence to the current needs and priorities of hospitals inRomania. With a strong focus on feasibility of data collection patient safety, health care-associated infections,patient experience, workforce training and effectiveness of hospital care were prioritized.By fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement in the national health system, the indicators aimto constitute a first step to foster data-driven decision-making to strengthening quality of care in the Romanianhealth system.
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- Citation
- World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe . (2024). Quality of care indicators to support implementation of the Health Quality Fund in Romania: technical guidebook. World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/378999 . License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- Pages
- 120
- Published in
- Switzerland
- Rights
- CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- Rights Holder
- World Health Organization
- Rights URI
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements 7
- Abbreviations 8
- Background and scope 9
- 1.1 Introduction 10
- 1.2 Scope of the technical guidebook 11
- The Romanian health-care system in context 13
- 2.1 Health status and health priorities 14
- 2.2 Governance and organizational structure of the health-care system 14
- 2.3 Priorities for quality indicators 15
- Guiding principles for quality indicators, data collection and measurements 17
- 3.1 Introduction and overarching guiding principles 18
- 3.2 Development of QoC indicators and KPIs 21
- 3.3 Quality assurance 23
- 3.4 Information security, data protection and confidentiality 24
- Methodology for the Health Quality Fund indicators 25
- Good practice recommendations for patient safety indicators 69
- 5.1 CDC criteria for and definitions of BSIs and CLABSIs 70
- 5.2 CDC criteria for and definitions of VAEs 74
- 5.3 SSIs 78
- 5.4 Principles of patient blood management 84
- Good practice recommendations for clinical assessment procedures 85
- 6.1 Introduction to clinical auditing structures and functions 86
- 6.2 Procedures for clinical assessment for the Health Quality Fund indicators 87
- Final remarks 89
- References 91
- Annex 1. Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) reporting tool 98
- Annex 2. Registration form for denominators for central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and ventilator-associated event (VAE) 102
- Annex 3. Ventilator-associated event (VAE) reporting form 103
- Annex 4. Fall incident reporting form 106
- Annex 5. Pressure ulcer reporting form 108
- Annex 6. Example of surgical wound healing post-discharge questionnaire 111
- Annex 7. Surgical site infection (SSI) reporting form 113
- Annex 8. Quality from the patient’s perspective survey (QPPS) questionnaire, shortened 117
- Table 1. Data quality dimensions 19
- Table 2. Types of error and prevention measures 20
- Table 3. List of indicators 26
- Table 4. Indicator 1: central line-associated bloodstream infection rate 27
- Table 5. Indicator 2: ventilator-associated event rate 30
- Table 6. Indicator 3: percentage of in-hospital patients assessed for fall risk through applied protocols 32
- Table 7. Indicator 4: rate of patient falls during hospitalization 34
- Table 8. Indicator 5: percentage of in-hospital patients assessed for pressure ulcer risk through applied protocols 35
- Table 9. Indicator 6: rate of new pressure ulcers acquired during hospitalization 37
- Table 10. Indicator 7: percentage of patients undergoing surgery where the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist was applied 39
- Table 11. Indicator 8: postoperative bleeding rate requiring surgical re-intervention 41
- Table 12. Indicator 9: surgical site infection rate 43
- Table 13. Indicator 10: patient experience questionnaire completion rate 45
- Table 14. Indicator 11: patient experience after hospital discharge average score 46
- Table 15. Indicator 12: percentage of health-care workers participating in QoC and patient safety training activities 47
- Table 16. Indicator 13: percentage of health-care workers who followed standard protocol for occupational health following a sharps injury during working hours 49
- Table 17. Indicator 14: percentage of health-care workers immunized against influenza during the current vaccination season 50
- Table 18. Indicator 15: in-hospital mortality among patients with heart failure 51
- Table 19. Indicator 16: in-hospital mortality among patients with acute myocardial infarction 53
- Table 20. Indicator 17: in-hospital mortality among patients with pneumonia 55
- Table 21. Indicator 18: percentage of patients readmitted to the ICU within 48 hours of transfer 57
- Table 22. Indicator 19: percentage of unscheduled readmissions to hospital within 30 days of discharge for heart failure through the emergency department 58
- Table 23. Indicator 20: average length of hospitalization (hospital stay) 60
- Table 24. Indicator 21: percentage of surgical procedures with a perioperative hospital length of stay of less than 48 hours 61
- Table 25. Indicator 22: preoperative hospital length of stay for elective surgery 62
- Table 26. Indicator 23: percentage of cancer patients assessed for nutritional status through applied protocols 63
- Table 27. Indicator 24: in-hospital mortality among patients with ischaemic stroke 65
- Table 28. Indicator 25: average time from admission to treatment (“door-to-needle time”) for ischaemic stroke 67
- Table 29. LCBI criteria 70
- Table 30. MBI-LCBI criteria 71
- Table 31. Examples of reporting timelines at the facility level 80
- Table 32. Examples of reporting timelines at the national level 80
- Table 33. Superficial incisional SSI criteria 81
- Table 34. Deep incisional SSI criteria 82
- Table 35. Organ/space SSI criteria 82
- Fig. 1. Classification of QoC indicators and KPIs 22
- Fig. 2. CLABSI flowchart 73
- Fig. 3. VAE flowchart 76
- Fig. 4. Data assessment flowchart 88