Reporting quality improvement data by key functions: one step closer to continuous quality improvement.

Abstract

Medical care systems must demonstrate that they provide cost-effective, quality care if they are to remain viable in the wake of healthcare reform. A basic premise of continuous quality improvement is that an organization can measure and improve the performance of key functions (a group of goal-directed processes). Accordingly, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has been restructuring its accreditation manual, moving from department-specific standards to functional standards. In early 1992, our hospital began reporting quality improvement data by key functions rather than by service. As a result of this change, departments communicated and worked together better and more interdisciplinary efforts occurred, resulting in some dramatic improvements in the quality of care.