Clinical audit, quality improvement, and safety in palliative medicine

2021 ◽  
pp. 1335-1350
Author(s):  
Irene J. Higginson ◽  
Mevhibe B. Hocaoglu
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Palliative Medicine ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Clinical Audit ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Quality And Safety ◽  
Educational Component

Audit approaches and methods are now well advanced in palliative care, especially in clinical audit. This chapter discusses these approaches and methods, and addresses such questions as ‘Why perform clinical audit in palliative medicine?’ and ‘How do we assess the quality and safety of palliative care?’ It discusses the evolving terms of audit, quality assurance, quality improvement, safety, and governance, and how to apply clinical audit to palliative medicine. Audit requires resources, and so it must be sure to benefit patients and families, be kept as simple and efficient as possible, and have a strong educational component. There is also a need to develop and test methods of audit in a global healthcare context. If palliative approaches extend backwards to include patients earlier in care, rather than those just near to death, then the audit could become a means for clinical dialogue and education between specialties.

Clinical audit in palliative medicine

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene J. Higginson
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Palliative Medicine ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Clinical Audit ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Educational Component

Audit approaches and methods are now well advanced in palliative care, especially in clinical audit. This chapter discusses these approaches and methods, and addresses such questions as ‘Why perform clinical audit in palliative medicine?’ and ‘How do we assess the quality of palliative care?’ It discusses the evolving terms of audit, quality improvement, and governance, and how to apply clinical audit to palliative medicine. Audit requires resources, and so it must be sure to benefit patients and families, be kept as simple and efficient as possible, and have a strong educational component. There is also a need to develop and test methods of audit in developing countries. If palliative approaches extend backwards to include patients earlier in care, rather than those just near to death, then the audit could become a means for clinical dialogue and education between specialties.

scholarly journals CLINICAL AUDIT: QUALITY OF PALLIATIVE CARE IN LONG TERM-CARE FACILITIES IN WESTERN FRANCE, 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 547-547
Author(s):  
J. Prudhomm ◽  
V. Morin-Chouarbi ◽  
M. Bechac ◽  
E. Menand ◽  
A. Corvol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Clinical Audit ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Facilities

Quality assurance and quality improvement in medical practice – Part 3. Clinical audit in medical practice

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (5) ◽  
pp. 174-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sándor Gődény
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Clinical Audit ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Service Improvement ◽  
Quality Improvement Process ◽  
Quality Improvement Interventions ◽  
Definition Of

The first two articles in the series were about the definition of quality in healthcare, the quality approach, the importance of quality assurance, the advantages of quality management systems and the basic concepts and necessity of evidence based medicine. In the third article the importance and basic steps of clinical audit are summarised. Clinical audit is an integral part of quality assurance and quality improvement in healthcare, that is the responsibility of any practitioner involved in medical practice. Clinical audit principally measures the clinical practice against clinical guidelines, protocols and other professional standards, and sometimes induces changes to ensure that all patients receive care according to principles of the best practice. The clinical audit can be defined also as a quality improvement process that seeks to identify areas for service improvement, develop and carry out plans and actions to improve medical activity and then by re-audit to ensure that these changes have an effect. Therefore, its aims are both to stimulate quality improvement interventions and to assess their impact in order to develop clinical effectiveness. At the end of the article key points of quality assurance and improvement in medical practice are summarised. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 174–183.

What is clinical audit’s purpose: quality assurance or quality improvement?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-83
Author(s):  
Nancy Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Clinical Audit ◽  
Audit Process ◽  
Quality Improvement Process ◽  
Quality Assurance Process ◽  
Quality Of Patient Care ◽  
Assurance Process

Clinical audit has become a key activity for healthcare organisations and professionals in England. The clinical audit process is frequently described as a cycle of steps that includes making changes in practice. However, some evidence suggests that clinical audit is not effective in producing improvements in the quality of patient care. The explanation may be that clinicians and managers are seeing clinical audit as a quality assurance process, which implies making small adjustments in practice to conform to standards, rather than as a quality improvement process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document