Citation
(2001), "International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214eag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)
International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)
The featured Web site is that of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) at http://www.isqua.org.au/
To gain full benefit from the site it is necessary to be a member of the Society and membership fees are currently as follows:
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Individual membership: $150 Australian Dollars (equiv. £59 UKP/$96 US Dollars);
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Institutional membership: $780 Australian Dollars (equiv. £305 UKP/$500 US Dollars)
However, despite the limited access for non-members the site is a useful one. ISQua provides an opportunity for individuals and institutions with common interest in health care quality to share expertise via an international multidisciplinary forum. Its members include health care providers and agencies in over 60 countries, and it is further supported with funds from the Australian and Victorian Governments. Its objectives are to:
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promote quality improvement on a continual basis in health care internationally;
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focus on the methodologies needed to facilitate quality in health care and to develop programs and activities related to these;
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organise scientific meetings of the Society and to encourage the organisation of such meetings on both a global and a regional basis;
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publish The International Journal for Quality in Health Care and other relevant publications;
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promote external evaluation of health care including the provision of an internationally agreed method of assessment of health care standards and also for an internationally agreed method of accreditation for health care accreditation organisations;
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promote research and education in quality improvement in health care, with particular regard to cost effectiveness, cost benefit and cost utility analysis, clinical epidemiology and measures of quality of life and consumer satisfaction; and
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maintain relationships with relevant organisations concerned with assuring quality improvement and optimal standards in health care.
The site offers membership access to The International Journal for Quality in Health Care, the Society's official journal. It also provides information about its conferences, and the usual links to related Web sites. However, the two most interesting features, and the reason for recommending the site, are access to information about ALPHA and the Clinical Indicators/International Indicators Initiative.
ALPHA, the Agenda for Leadership in Programs for Healthcare Accreditation, was launched in 1999. It emerged following a series of annual meetings which started in 1994 in Treviso, Italy where representatives of long-standing national accreditation organisations came together with people from countries where accreditation was only in its infancy. From this beginning, a one-day meeting has been held in association with each of ISQua's annual international conferences. The sixth meeting was held in Melbourne, Australia and the seventh in Dublin, Ireland.
Three programmes of work are being developed with the endorsement of accreditation organisations from around the world:
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Standards: an approved international framework of Principles for Healthcare Standards is being used as the basis for review and assessment of the standards of individual accrediting bodies. In other words, an accreditation organisation will be able to apply for assessment of its standards to determine whether they meet international requirements.
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Accreditation survey: many national accreditation organisations have been requesting their own process of peer assessment and accreditation. Through a series of pilot assessments, ISQua has developed an approved set of international standards for accrediting the accreditors.
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Support: with the increasing privatisation of health services across the world, the demand is also increasing in many countries for assessment of the performance of services against a formally established set of national standards. These present the basic foundations for establishing national accreditation programs. Along with responding to the interests of established accreditation programs, ISQua has also had a clear message from new and emerging groups that basic introductory information is also needed to cover what is happening in different countries as well as what is important in the initial stages. A range of support services is being developed to meet these needs.
The Clinical Indicators/ International Indicators Initiative started from a meeting in Budapest in 1998 hosted by ISQua on establishing an international framework of performance indicators in health care, received very positive feedback. It was agreed to continue dialogue about an international approach to indicators as a special interest of ISQua, to prepare a draft framework of principles based on papers prepared for the meeting and to meet again in Melbourne in 1999.
A draft set of principles for indicators was generally agreed with the proviso that recognition be made of slightly different principles applying to accountability and to performance improvement.
About 40 people were at the first meeting in 1998. Over 140 attended the third meeting in Dublin.
The material on this initiative provides a link to a comprehensive, international literature review commissioned in Australia by the Victorian Government's Acute Care Division under the direction of Dr Heather Buchan, who heads up quality programs, at http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/ahs/quality/clinical.htm
The links provided are extremely comprehensive. This is a good gateway to sites dealing with quality in health care.