Imagine a client who, when looking for a hospital to get better information about the quality of services, wants to know the rate of urinary tract infections in procedures performed. Or the fall rate of patients being treated at the hospital. Or, still, the average length of stay of patients in the ICU and the incidence of readmissions.
In the specialized literature, there are all kinds of criteria to measure, based on evidence, the quality of medical services. To certify them, there are national and international accreditation companies that establishments use voluntarily to certify whether or not they comply with the best standards. These beacons allow health institutions to correct any deviations and improve services aiming at the best clinical outcome.
In Brazil, there are several initiatives to promote quality based on indicators and certifications. The National Association of Private Hospitals (Anahp) quarterly collects and discloses consolidated healthcare quality and safety indicators from the 118 hospitals it represents.
The Brazilian Association of Intensive Care Medicine (Amib) monitors performance indicators of the ICUs of hospitals that volunteer to participate. Rede D’Or São Luiz monitors 33 outcome indicators and 18 process indicators, and a sample of these indicators is included in the quarterly statements published on its website.
At the federal level, the National Patient Safety Program, conducted by Anvisa, monitors incidents in health services, such as a patient falling out of bed or the wrong administration of medication, and proposes improvement actions.
In recent news, the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS) announced the beginning of the last stage of testing of the Hospital Care Quality Monitoring Program, to which hospitals that are part of their own or accredited networks of health plans may voluntarily join.
The program’s pilot should be completed by June 2022 and will result in the classification of establishments into five bands, based on 14 quality indicators.
In England, an independent commission controls the quality of primary care services, discloses the results of audits and people are encouraged to share their experiences. In the United States, the Department of Health publishes a guide in which citizens are guided on how to choose a hospital. The guide suggests that the patient verify that the hospital has the best experience in cases like yours and that it controls quality, and sends you to the Medicare website where you can compare the indicators of around 4,000 establishments.
Initiatives like these can certainly help us to advance in the construction of quality care in Brazil. All the more so if the adoption of indicators is not restricted, as it is today, to a few health establishments out of a universe of thousands.
In addition, it is important that the dissemination of this information goes beyond the circle of specialists and reaches the population, in accessible language, so as to be able to help users of medical-hospital services in their choices.
.
Chad-98Weaver, a distinguished author at NewsBulletin247, excels in the craft of article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a penchant for storytelling, Chad delivers informative and engaging content that resonates with readers across various subjects. His contributions are a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field of journalism.
