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The components of a quality assurance program for smaller hospitals

University of British Columbia

The components of a quality assurance program for smaller hospitals in British Columbia have been defined. These components have been defined by a comparison of the normative standards as determined in the literature and by a survey of administrators. Sixteen administrators of predominantly acute-care, accredited, 20-50-bed hospitals in B.C. were surveyed. Twelve of these administrators were surveyed twice. A new requirement for accreditation was introduced by the Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation (C.C.H.A.) called the Quality Assurance Standard (1985). This Standard required that quality assurance (QA) programs be established in every department or service in the hospital. The Standard does not give a clear description of the QA functions for each individual department in a smaller hospital. An important and relevant list of specific functions for a QA program were identified at various C.C.H.A. seminars held across Canada in late 1983 and early 1984. The literature review indicated that there were a number of controversial issues affecting the implementation of the QA Standard. In spite of many methodological problems associated with quality measurement and assurance, most hospitals will adopt a quality assurance model. The first survey asked the administrators to define the purpose, goals and objectives of a QA program. They were also asked to determine the QA functions for four areas: hospital board, dietary, nursing and pharmacy. Administrators were asked to identify who in the hospital is primarily responsible for the overall QA program and for the QA program in four areas; the problems and benefits encountered when trying to implement a QA program; and their opinion of the new QA requirements for accreditation. The second survey asked the administrators to assign a priority to those functions identified in Round I. The empirical findings were then compared with the normative standards. With some exceptions, the empirical data were consistent with the normative standards. The empirical findings shows that there are problems related to implementing a QA program but at the same time there are a number of benefits related to the program. The priority ratings of the functions indicated areas of high or low importance to the administrator. It is likely that these priority ratings are useful for planning when alternatives must be considered during this time of fiscal restraint. Government policies along with the strong voluntary support of accreditation programs make it vitally important that suitable models for implementing QA are developed. The Doll model is suggested as a basis for implementing QA. Further areas for research are presented.

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2010-05-13

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/24662

Health Care and Epidemiology

University of British Columbia

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