Core Principles to Improve Primary Care Quality Management

A training intervention to improve information management in primary care.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Training programs designed to improve information management have been implemented but not adequately tested. Three critical components for information management were tested in a randomized control study: (1) knowledge of valid, synthesized summary information, (2) skills to use Web-based resources that provide access to these summaries, and (3) use of Web-based resou...

Does a quality management system improve quality in primary care practices in Switzerland? A longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES To examine the effectiveness of the quality management programme--European Practice Assessment--in primary care in Switzerland. DESIGN Longitudinal study with three points of measurement. SETTING Primary care practices in Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS In total, 45 of 91 primary care practices completed European Practice Assessment three times. OUTCOMES The interval between each a...

Strategies to improve the management of depression in primary care.

Effective management of depression in the primary care setting requires a systematic, population-based approach, which entails systematic case finding and diagnosis, patient engagement and education, use of evidence-based treatments, including medications and/or psychotherapy, close follow-up to ensure patients are improving, and a commitment to adjust treatments or consult with mental health s...

Applying Lean Principles to Improve Healthcare Quality and Safety Applying Lean Principles to Improve Healthcare Quality and Safety

Can pay for performance improve the quality of primary care?

For many conditions and in many countries, medical care falls short of what should be provided. Although high quality care depends crucially on the professionalism of doctors, this has not proved sufficient to ensure universal high quality care, and as a consequence payers have looked towards incentives as one way of further improving quality. In 2004 the UK National Health Service introduced t...