External quality mechanisms for health care: summary of the ExPeRT project on visitatie, accreditation, EFQM and ISO assessment in European Union countries

Abstract

This paper is a summary of the operation, findings and conclusions of a European Union project on external peer review techniques, termed 'ExPeRT', to research the scope, mechanisms and use of external quality mechanisms in the improvement of health care. Many of the themes outlined are described in detail in other papers that have been prepared specifically for this issue of The International Journal for Quality in Health Care. Although the emphasis of this project and of this issue of the Journal is on Europe, the conclusions are more widely relevant.

Akkreditáció az egészségügyben

“…Az akkreditációs rendszerek diverzifitása visszavezethető az országok eltérő erőforrásból gazdálkodó, eltérő szükségletekre tervezett egészségügyi rendszereinek különbözőségére [11,14]. Bár az akkreditáció eredmé-nyességének kutatása jelenleg is több kutatócsoport ér-deklődésének középpontjában áll, feltételezhetően a helyi sajátosságokhoz igazítottsága teszi képessé arra, hogy bizonyítottan szignifikáns mértékben javítsa az ellátás minőségét és a betegbiztonságot [15].…”

Accreditation and certification of hospital quality: different or similar

“…Nowadays, quality is evaluated through Hospital Accreditation models, excellence models such as the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award of the United States and other national or regional Awards of Excellence such as the European model EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management); or certified using ISO 9001 generic standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and its adaptations to the health sector [5]. External peer reviews are also used in some medical specialties.…”

Establishing a tracking system in human resources department to improve the completeness of personnel files at a district hospital in Rwanda

“…[43][44][45] Rwanda's Ministry of Health, which aims to strengthen health systems by ensuring provision of high quality services, adopted a hospital accreditation system in 2006 as one of the main strategies to improve quality of care. [46] All district hospitals in the country are currently under the process of accreditation. Common in many accreditation systems, human resources management is an important component in the accreditation standards.…”