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Health Care Quality Measurement

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Increasingly, tools and surveys are employed to determine current and optimal levels of health care service and performance, and ultimately to improve the levels for each. RAND helps policymakers, health care leaders, and practitioners determine cost-effective and accurate ways to measure the quality of health care being provided, and then recommends ways to improve the level of health care quality.

News Release

Three Possible Measures for Quality Medical Care May Help Cut Deaths from Opioid Addiction by One-Third

Jun 27, 2017

Following three possible recommendations for medical care for people with an opioid addiction may cut deaths among such patients by as much as one-third. Deaths were much lower among patients who were not prescribed opioids or common types of anxiety medications, those who received psychosocial counseling, and those who had quarterly visits with a physician.
Report

California Should Collect Physician Identifiers from Hospitals

Feb 7, 2013

California health regulators should begin collecting physician identifiers as part of their routine data collection efforts about the services provided at the state's hospitals. Such a move would help providers improve quality by aiding efforts to benchmark performance and reduce variations in the delivery of care.

Explore Health Care Quality Measurement

Journal Article

What Defines a High-Performing Health System: A Systematic Review

Lack of a consistent definition of a high-performing health system severely hampers our ability to compare delivery systems based on performance.

Aug 15, 2017
Research Brief

Research Brief

Supporting Readiness: Assessing and Improving the Quality of Care for Service Members with PTSD and Depression

Describes various aspects of assessing and improving the quality of care for service members with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.

Aug 7, 2017
Report

What Is the Quality of Mental Health Care in the Military?

The care provided by the Military Health System (MHS) is critical to maintaining a physically and psychologically healthy, mission-ready force. When it comes to PTSD and depression, the MHS demonstrates excellent care in some areas but could focus its efforts better in others.

Aug 7, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Association Between Quality Measures and Perceptions of Care Among Patients With Substance Use Disorders

Two quality measures – receipt of psychotherapy and psychosocial treatment – were associated with patient perceptions of their own improvement.

Aug 4, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Improving Patient Experience in Primary Care: A Multimethod Programme of Research on the Measurement and Improvement of Patient Experience

This study demonstrates the importance of patient experience feedback as ameans of improving care in the U.K.'s National Health Service.

Aug 4, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Implementation of Practice Transformation: Patient Experience According to Practice Leaders

An evaluation of federally qualified health centers found that transforming primary care to a medical home model can improve patient experience.

Aug 1, 2017
Journal Article

Challenges Of Measuring Quality Of Community-Based Programs For Seriously Ill Individuals And Their Families

Quality measures and payment approaches for community-based programs serving seriously ill patients should incorporate core components such as communication, shared decision making, and advance care planning.

Jul 19, 2017
Project

Innovation as a driver of quality and productivity in UK healthcare

The United Kingdom's (UK's) National Health Service (NHS), as with all national health and care systems, is under pressure to meet the growing and changing demand for services with limited resources. Innovations spanning technologies, products, services and new ways of working, provide opportunities to respond creatively and effectively to growing health demands across all age groups. However, such innovations need to be accomplished within well-recognised resource constraints, while achieving efficiencies and improvements in how healthcare is delivered.

Jun 15, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Validation of New Quality Measures for Transitions Between Sites of Care

New quality measures may improve transition care for children after an emergency department or hospital visit.

May 25, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Does a Quality Improvement Campaign Accelerate Take-Up of New Evidence? A Ten-State Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of the IHI's Project JOINTS

States participating in Project JOINTS, a six-month quality improvement campaign to reduce infection risk after joint replacement surgery, adhered to three new evidence-based practices significantly more than non-participants.

May 23, 2017
Commentary

Beyond Medication Reconciliation: The Correct Medication List

Primary care clinicians are expected to reconcile a patient's medications at every visit. In practice, this has failed to have a demonstrable effect on patient outcomes. What is needed is not merely a reconciled list, but the correct list.

Apr 21, 2017
Report

Outcome Performance Measure Development for Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions

This report summarizes analyses to assess the reliability and validity of the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12) metrics and patient-reported outcome performance measures.

Apr 12, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Development and Testing of the Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES) Quality Indicators

This project developed and tested the Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES), a set of measures for assessing the quality of hospital-based care for common pediatric respiratory illnesses.

Apr 11, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Quality of Care Measures for the Management of Unhealthy Alcohol Use

Proposed quality of care measures for unhealthy alcohol use focus on screening, assessment, treatment, and follow-up in outpatient care.

Mar 13, 2017
Journal Article

New Parent Home Visiting Program Reduces Infants' Need for Medical Care

Infants whose families took part in a new parent home visit program were less likely to visit the emergency room and made fewer primary care visits during their first year of life. The program benefited at-risk families and those who had no risk factors.

Jan 27, 2017
Report

Engaging Consumers in the Quality Measurement Enterprise

This report explores the experience of consumer advocates in engaging with quality measurement, identifies barriers to effective consumer engagement, and suggests ways to address those barriers.

Jan 10, 2017
Commentary

Improving MACRA's Chances of Success

Starting in 2019, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act will integrate and potentially simplify performance measurement by combining many measures and programs. Research provides insight into how to avoid pitfalls in MACRA's rollout.

Jan 9, 2017
Commentary

Toward a Learning Behavioral Health Care System

New technologies for capturing and sharing data have begun to transform the way providers practice medicine in the United States. Expanding these technologies to behavioral health care could enhance the delivery of services and improve outcomes for millions of Americans.

Dec 20, 2016
News Release

News Release

New Parent Home Visiting Program Reduces Infants' Need for Medical Care During First Year of Life

Infants whose families participated in a new parent home visit program were less likely to visit the emergency room and made fewer primary care doctor visits during their first year of life. The program benefited both families who were at risk for problems, and those who had no risk factors.

Dec 15, 2016

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RAND Topic:
Health Care Quality Measurement

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