The Quality and Outcomes Framework has deeply divided UK general practitioners. I commend this book and applaud its determination to scrutinise every aspect of the Quality and Outcomes Framework - good and bad and in-between. - From the Foreword by Iona Heath General practice in the UK faces transformation following the introduction of the Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF), a pay-for-performance scheme unprecedented in the NHS, and the most comprehensive scheme of its kind in the world. Champions claim the QOF advances the quality of primary care; detractors fear the end of general practice as we know it. The introduction of the QOF provides a unique opportunity for research, analysis and reflection. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the QOF, examining the claims and counter-claims in depth through the experience of those delivering QOF, comparisons with other countries, and analysis of the wealth of research evidence emerging. Assessments of the true impact of QOF will influence the development of health services in the UK and beyond. This book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the future of general practice and primary care, including health professionals, trainers, students, MRCGP candidates and researchers, managers, and policy-makers and shapers.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework has deeply divided UK general practitioners. I commend this book and applaud its determination to scrutinise every aspect of the Quality and Outcomes Framework - good and bad and in-between. - From the Foreword by Iona Heath General practice in the UK faces transformation following the introduction of the Quality & Outcomes Framework (QOF), a pay-for-performance scheme unprecedented in the NHS, and the most comprehensive scheme of its kind in the world. Champions claim the QOF advances the quality of primary care; detractors fear the end of general practice as we know it. The introduction of the QOF provides a unique opportunity for research, analysis and reflection. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the QOF, examining the claims and counter-claims in depth through the experience of those delivering QOF, comparisons with other countries, and analysis of the wealth of research evidence emerging. Assessments of the true impact of QOF will influence the development of health services in the UK and beyond. This book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the future of general practice and primary care, including health professionals, trainers, students, MRCGP candidates and researchers, managers, and policy-makers and shapers.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

This comprehensive book organizes the components of quality and safety outcomes, within a framework developed by expert nurses. Such a framework is missing in existing books on quality and safety in health care, and the concepts of nursing and organizational outcomes are often overlooked. This book fills this gap by exploring and expanding the various features of the Quality Health Outcomes Model (QHOM) and its four main concepts of System, Client, Interventions, and Outcomes. Using a broad and comprehensive approach, the authors identify the most current empirical evidence and concepts in the nursing field to provide an up-to-date understanding of the QHOM’s four concepts and their interrelations. New concepts include (a) systems concepts of turbulence and complexity of workflow and use of the electronic health record to support clinical workflow; (b) client concepts of social determinants of health, health literacy, and chronicity; (c) intervention concepts of interprofessional practice, nursing care processes including unfinished care, and care coordination; (d) outcome concepts related to nursing and the organization in addition to patient outcomes that includes the patients’ experience. The ideas, approaches, and evidence are provided by a team of experienced researchers, practitioners, and leaders. The author team presents an updated, state-of-art view of how system, client, and interventions affect client, nurse, and organizational outcomes. This book will appeal to researchers, clinicians, and researchers interested in healthcare quality and in particular nurses and nursing students in administration, research, and practice.

'The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a system to financially reward general practices for providing quality care to their patients. It is a fundamental part of the GMS contract, introduced in April 2004. QOF is estimated to have saved up to 10,000 lives a year since its introduction - ' - From the Preface Filled with practical guidance and tips, this book explains everything you need to do in order to score 'maximum' on all the clinical indicators in the QOF. Using tables and lists, it details areas such as setting up a disease register, ensuring that you have an accepted definition of the condition, arranging a practice meeting to discuss registers and motivating team members to use and think about templates as well as cross-checking hospital letters and discharges summaries, conducting a repeat prescription search, actively screening at-risk patients and ensuring an efficient call and recall system. These are the basic rules which apply to any and every clinical indicator. Offering guidance on and insight into the origins of different targets, possible shortfalls, and ways to implement change and improve scores, this easy-to-read book is vital for all general practitioners, GP Commissioners, QOF assessors, and PCT QOF teams. Practice nurses, who are often relied upon to maintain QOF standards, will find the information essential. GP Registrars, medical students, Pharmacists, Health Care Assistants and Practice Managers will also find much of interest.

Second in a series of publications from the Institute of Medicine's Quality of Health Care in America project Today's health care providers have more research findings and more technology available to them than ever before. Yet recent reports have raised serious doubts about the quality of health care in America. Crossing the Quality Chasm makes an urgent call for fundamental change to close the quality gap. This book recommends a sweeping redesign of the American health care system and provides overarching principles for specific direction for policymakers, health care leaders, clinicians, regulators, purchasers, and others. In this comprehensive volume the committee offers: A set of performance expectations for the 21st century health care system. A set of 10 new rules to guide patient-clinician relationships. A suggested organizing framework to better align the incentives inherent in payment and accountability with improvements in quality. Key steps to promote evidence-based practice and strengthen clinical information systems. Analyzing health care organizations as complex systems, Crossing the Quality Chasm also documents the causes of the quality gap, identifies current practices that impede quality care, and explores how systems approaches can be used to implement change.

This User’s Guide is intended to support the design, implementation, analysis, interpretation, and quality evaluation of registries created to increase understanding of patient outcomes. For the purposes of this guide, a patient registry is an organized system that uses observational study methods to collect uniform data (clinical and other) to evaluate specified outcomes for a population defined by a particular disease, condition, or exposure, and that serves one or more predetermined scientific, clinical, or policy purposes. A registry database is a file (or files) derived from the registry. Although registries can serve many purposes, this guide focuses on registries created for one or more of the following purposes: to describe the natural history of disease, to determine clinical effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of health care products and services, to measure or monitor safety and harm, and/or to measure quality of care. Registries are classified according to how their populations are defined. For example, product registries include patients who have been exposed to biopharmaceutical products or medical devices. Health services registries consist of patients who have had a common procedure, clinical encounter, or hospitalization. Disease or condition registries are defined by patients having the same diagnosis, such as cystic fibrosis or heart failure. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews.