“This generally positive view among hospital quality improvement directors concerning quality improvement organization (QIO) interventions suggests that QIOs are potentially poised to take a leading role in promoting quality of care,” the study authors stated in their report.
The new research, published in the March issue of the bimonthly journal Health Services Research, reports that administrators have increasingly sought the counsel of physicians, executives and hospital staff in an effort to improve hospital quality—something earlier researchers had recommended.
“In the three years since the study survey was conducted, QIOs have increasingly engaged physicians and hospital executives in the quality improvement process, just as the authors of (the 2001) study have advised,” reports David Schulke, American Health Quality Association executive vice president. “Over the next three years, all QIOs will be working with hospital leaders because we’ve learned the importance of recruiting executive and board support for the clinical improvement activities of front-line caregivers.
Independent surveys conducted nationwide in 2004 show that almost all providers who worked closely with QIOs said they were satisfied with the QIO’s services. The level of satisfaction ranged from a high of 95 percent among home health agencies to almost 90 percent of physician offices.
“This study is consistent with a growing body of data demonstrating the effectiveness and acceptability of QIOs in improving health care,” says Jonathan Sugarman, president of AHQA. “It’s very encouraging that hospital staff acknowledged the impact that QIOs have on quality of care. It can be difficult to attribute causation to improvements associated with QIO work, but it’s highly unlikely that hospital quality managers would mistakenly attribute improvements in care to the work of external consultants like QIOs. In addition, the opportunities for improvement identified by hospital staff are consistent with the views of QIO leaders.”
For more information, visit www.ahqa.org.
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