International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance: Volume 32 Issue 2

Primary healthcare accreditation standards: a systematic review

Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi, Farid Gharibi

Accreditation is an essential component in primary healthcare (PHC) systems. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the most suitable PHC accreditation models and standards…

BeWell: quality assurance health promotion pilot

Linda A. Piwowarczyk, Fernando Ona

The purpose of this paper is to determine the experience participating in a health promotion program for refugee and asylum seekers and torture survivors in a safety net clinical…

Evaluating and prioritizing hospital service quality

Ahmad Torkzad, Mohammad Ali Beheshtinia

Hospital evaluations create competition between healthcare providers. In this study, a multi criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is used to evaluate criteria that affect…

Intervention analysis and classification: key to health outcomes optimization

Oguchi Nkwocha

Measures are important to healthcare outcomes. Outcome changes result from deliberate selective intervention introduction on a measure. If measures can be characterized and…

The tinnitus patient information pack: usefulness in intrusive tinnitus

Amro Hassaan, Aaron Trinidade

The purpose of this paper is to determine a tinnitus patient information pack’s (TPIP) usefulness in patients suffering with tinnitus with respect to their need for further…

Pediatric discharge against medical advice

Emad Al-Mohammadi

The purpose of this paper is to identify the reasons for discharges against medical advice (DAMA) and the possible outcomes among pediatric patients.

Cross-border nursing education: questions, qualms and quality assurance

Vasanthrie Naidoo, Maureen Nokuthula Sibiya

The purpose of this paper is to share insights, research findings and discuss key issues relating to quality practices and quality assurance in cross-border nursing education…

Iranian hospital efficiency: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Satar Rezaei, Mohammad Hajizadeh, Bijan Nouri, Sina Ahmadi, Shahab Rezaeian, Yahya Salimi, Ali Kazemi Karyani

The purpose of this paper (systematic review and meta-analysis) is to synthesize and analyze studies that assessed Iranian hospital efficiency.

Discrete event simulation and pharmacy process re-engineering

Khalid Al Badi

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study undertaken at Al Buraimi Hospital in Oman, which used computer simulation and the Delphi approach to improve efficiency by…

Patient safety culture in Hungarian hospitals

Nina Granel, Josep Maria Manresa-Domínguez, Anita Barth, Katalin Papp, Maria Dolors Bernabeu-Tamayo

The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) is a rigorously designed tool for measuring inpatient safety culture. The purpose of this paper is to develop a…

Using informatics to improve healthcare quality

Ahmed Otokiti

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into contemporary challenges associated with applying informatics and big data to healthcare quality improvement.

Implementing Lean Six Sigma in a Kuwaiti private hospital

Yazan Al-Zain, Lawrence Al-Fandi, Mazen Arafeh, Samar Salim, Shouq Al-Quraini, Aisha Al-Yaseen, Deema Abu Taleb

The purpose of this paper is to use Lean Six Sigma (LSS) to reduce patient waiting time in a Kuwaiti private hospital obstetrics and gynaecology clinic.

South African foodservice quality: inpatient’s perceptions

Lindiwe Julia Ncube, Alufheli Edgar Nesamvuni

The purpose of this paper is to assess patient perceptions regarding South African hospital foodservice quality.

Improving healthcare through process standardization: a general hospital case study

Borut Rusjan, Marko Kiauta

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two process standardization theoretical conceptual constructs: process variants unification; and distinction between standard, routine and…

Adherence to surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis: “checking-the-box” is not enough

Kunal Karamchandani, Kyle Barden, Jansie Prozesky

The purpose of this paper is to review surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis administration practices in a small cohort and assess compliance with national guidelines.

Hospital quality indicators: a systematic review

Juliana Zeni Breyer, Juliana Giacomazzi, Regina Kuhmmer, Karine Margarites Lima, Luciano Serpa Hammes, Rodrigo Antonini Ribeiro, Natália Luiza Kops, Maicon Falavigna, Eliana Marcia Wendland

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe hospital quality indicators, classifying them according to Donabedian’s structure, process and outcome model and in specific…

TORS for OSA: a practice, pitfalls and literature review

Amro Hassaan, Aaron Trinidade, Bhik Kotecha, Neil Tolley

Trans-oral robotic surgery (TORS) is increasingly employed in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) management. Objective outcomes are generally assessed through polysomnography…

A decision support simulation model for bed management in healthcare

Elizabeth A. Cudney, Raja Anvesh Baru, Ivan Guardiola, Tejaswi Materla, William Cahill, Raymond Phillips, Bruce Mutter, Debra Warner, Christopher Masek

In order to provide access to care in a timely manner, it is necessary to effectively manage the allocation of limited resources. such as beds. Bed management is a key to the…

Verifying alternative measures of healthcare service quality

Ingy Shafei, Jan Walburg, Ahmed Taher

The purpose of this paper is to determine the best measure among several alternatives (SERVQUAL, weighted SERVQUAL, SERVPERF, weighted SERVPERF) and develop a scale which…

Patient-centered communication: dissecting provider communication

Elena A. Platonova, Haiyan Qu, Jan Warren-Findlow

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between patients’ provider communication effectiveness and courteousness with patients’ satisfaction and trust at free…