Do practice performance scores predict emergency admissions?

"We tested whether or not better-quality primary care, as assessed by the SMI [serious mental illness] quality indicators measured routinely in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) in English general practice, is associated with lower rates of emergency hospital admissions for people with SMIs"

Do higher primary care practice performance scores predict lower rates of emergency admissions for persons with serious mental illness? An analysis of secondary panel data 
R Jacobs et al.
Health Services and Delivery Research, (16), April 2015

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Cause for concern: QualityWatch annual statement 2014

"The past year has seen an increasing number of signs that historic improvements in quality are not being sustained in some areas, or have even reversed. Stress signals we first identified in 2013 are now becoming even stronger and apparent in a wider range of services."

Cause for concern: QualityWatch annual statement 2014
The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
October 2014

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Consensus on quality indicators to assess the organisation of palliative cancer and dementia care

"International experts selected a set of 23 QIs for the organisation of palliative care. Although we particularly focused on the organisation of cancer and dementia palliative care, most QIs are generic and are applicable for other types of diseases as well."

Consensus on quality indicators to assess the organisation of palliative cancer and dementia care applicable across national healthcare systems and selected by international experts
J van Riet Paap, M Vernooij-Dassen, R Dröes, L Radbruch, K Vissers,Y Engels
BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:396

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Focus on: A&E attendances

"We explored a range of factors thought to be contributing to increased pressure on A&E in the English NHS and tested whether recent changes in these factors could explain the current pressures observed in the system." 

Focus on: A&E attendances: Why are patients waiting longer?
I Blunt
Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation
July 2014

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QualityWatch

"Our programme [QualityWatch] will aim to provide an independent picture of the quality of care and, in so doing, both augment and inform the work of other statutory national bodies and initiatives.

More specifically, we will: 

• provide an authoritative resource on the overall quality of health and social care; 
• monitor and comment on changes over time, independently of government and the statutory bodies; 
• highlight where there are clear and compelling gaps between what is being achieved and what is possible in order to incite action and improvement; 
• and contribute to improving measures of quality."

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Focus On: Distance from home to emergency care

"This QualityWatch Focus On report examines the typical distances from home that people travel to receive emergency care, and how this has changed over time. It explores the distances between a person’s home and the hospital at which they attended A&E, or received an emergency inpatient admission, using Hospital Episode Statistics."

Focus On: Distance from home to emergency care
A Roberts, I Blunt, M Bardsley
The Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust, London
February 2014

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Is the quality of care in England getting better?

"The ability of the health system in England to monitor quality is increasing and, partly in response to the Francis Inquiry, there have been large changes in the range of ways that quality is assessed and measured."

Is the quality of care in England getting better? QualityWatch Annual Statement 2013
The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
November 2013

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Using aggregate measures to assess the quality of NHS hospitals

"Quality in the NHS is complex, with information often resting in different places in different formats, with little or no linkage or context."

Quality at a glance: using aggregate measures to assess the quality of NHS hospitals
MHP Health Mandate
March 2013

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A pilot qualitative study to explore stakeholder opinions regarding prescribing quality indicators

"Prescribing quality indicators are considered to be an important tool for assessing quality of provided diabetes care by all participants, although the preferences for specific types of indicators may differ by stakeholder depending on their user aim."

A pilot qualitative study to explore stakeholder opinions regarding prescribing quality indicators
L Martirosyan, J Markhorst, P Denig, FM Haaijer-Ruskamp, J Braspenning
BMC Health Services Research, 2012, 12:191

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Use of quality indicators to promote accountability in health care

"In this commentary, the authors hope to stimulate innovation in the field of health care performance measurement."

The use of quality indicators to promote accountability in health care: the good, the bad, and the ugly
AJ Forster, C van Walraven
Open Medicine, 2012, 6(2)

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Helping hospitals deliver better care: a new toolkit for quality improvement

"The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) contracted with a team of researchers from RAND and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), a large collection of academic medical centers, to develop a toolkit for hospitals to support their quality improvement efforts based on the AHRQ quality indicators."

Helping hospitals deliver better care: a new toolkit for quality improvement
RAND Health
May 2012

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Access the toolkit here.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis management

"This report aims to inform the development of quality indicators for postmenopausal osteoporosis management through:
(a) assessing the evidence for screening and diagnosis of osteoporosis and related risk factors, and for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures;
(b) describing current practice for managing postmenopausal osteoporosis in Europe; and
(c) highlighting existing gaps in the evidence base and management practices in Europe."

Postmenopausal osteoporosis management: a review of the evidence to inform the development of quality indicators
A Conklin, O Yaqub, C Celia, E Nolte
RAND Europe
April 2012

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Incentive payments are not related to expected health gain in the pay for performance scheme for UK primary care

"When designing pay for performance programmes decisions about the size of the financial incentive attached to an indicator should be informed by information on the health gain to be expected from that indicator."

Incentive payments are not related to expected health gain in the pay for performance scheme for UK primary care: cross-sectional analysis
R Fleetcroft, N Steel, R Cookson, S Walker, A Howe
BMC Health Services Research, 2012, 12:94

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Guideline-based development of quality indicators

"For the efficient development of high-quality quality indicators, rigorous, approved, and evidence-based development methods are needed."

Methods for the guideline-based development of quality indicators - a systematic review
T Kotter, E Blozik, M Scherer
Implementation Science, 2012, 7:21

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