Quality Assurance and Control Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering quality improvement methodologies, healthcare drivers, accountability programs, and patient safety concepts from RCP 110.

Quality

The sum of service or product properties that help satisfy the needs of its consumer.

Quality of Care

The degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.

Quality Improvement (QI)

An organizational effort where everyone constantly seeks improvement of a product or service aligned with customers' needs.

PDSA

A continuous quality improvement process consisting of Plan, Do, Study, and Act stages to continuously improve a service or product to achieve perfection.

Six Sigma

A quality improvement methodology focused on controlling and systematically reducing natural variation in process output over time using the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) process.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

A systematic evaluation of the different factors that affect a process and contribute to a problem, conducted during the Plan phase of QI.

SMART Goals

Goal-setting criteria standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Triple Aim

A healthcare framework developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to simultaneously improve patient experience of care, improve population health, and reduce per capita healthcare costs.

3 Main Drivers of Healthcare System

Cost, Access, and Quality.

Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program

A CMS program that rewards facilities showing superior performance in process measures, outcomes, patient experience, and efficiency, using funds collected from penalizing poor-performing facilities.

Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program

A penalty program that withholds a percentage of the entire CMS reimbursement if a hospital has excess readmissions within 30 days of discharge compared to the national mean.

Disease Management

An organized, systematic, population-based strategy of delivering care to a large group of individuals with chronic disease to improve outcomes and reduce cost by identifying at-risk individuals, intervening, and measuring outcomes.

Joint Commission (JCo)

An organization that grants accreditation based on satisfying specific standards established by advisory committees and requires facilities to maintain a quality assurance plan.

Sentinel Events

Serious patient events resulting in death, permanent harm, or severe temporary harm that require immediate hospital attention and are subject to Joint Commission review.

Mandatory Reporting Laws

A legally enforceable duty for healthcare workers who have contact with vulnerable populations to report suspected or confirmed mistreatment, abuse, or criminal acts to state and local authorities.