Biomaterial Database

Health care quality and safety issues. 2006

Becky Sutherland Cornett

The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus Ohio 43210, USA. Becky.Cornett@osumc.edu

Our health-care system is burdened with high costs, health-care disparities, overtreatment, undertreatment, high error rates, and fraud and abuse. At the same time, the United States has achieved spectacular medical advances using the latest technology. As a result, health-care quality measurement, publicly reported patient safety and quality indicators, and evaluation of patients' experience of care are watchwords of a new era of accountability for health-care professionals and organizations. The health-care industry is subject to increasing regulation, private sector challenges, and public demand to make significant improvements in all three components of the quality triad: structure, process, and outcome. This article examines regulatory initiatives and industry trends pertaining to patient safety and quality measurement and concludes with specific suggestions for the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011787	Quality of Health Care	The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.	Pharmacy Audit,Quality of Care,Quality of Healthcare,Audit, Pharmacy,Care Quality,Health Care Quality,Healthcare Quality,Pharmacy Audits
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001298	Audiology	Allied medical specialty that studies hearing and hearing impairment.
D012449	Safety	Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property.	Safeties
D013066	Speech-Language Pathology	The study of speech or language disorders and their diagnosis and correction.	Language Pathology,Speech Pathology,Pathology, Language,Pathology, Speech,Pathology, Speech-Language,Pathology, Speech Language,Speech Language Pathology
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D019300	Medical Errors	Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.	Medical Mistakes,Surgical Errors,Critical Incidents, Medical,Critical Medical Incidents,Errors, Medical,Errors, Surgical,Medical Error of Commission,Medical Error of Omission,Medical Errors of Commission,Medical Errors of Omission,Medical Mistake,Mistake, Medical,Mistakes, Medical,Never Event,Surgical Error,Wrong-Patient Surgery,Wrong-Procedure Errors,Wrong-Site Surgery,Commission Medical Error,Commission Medical Errors,Critical Incident, Medical,Critical Medical Incident,Error, Medical,Error, Surgical,Error, Wrong-Procedure,Errors, Wrong-Procedure,Event, Never,Events, Never,Incident, Critical Medical,Incident, Medical Critical,Incidents, Critical Medical,Incidents, Medical Critical,Medical Critical Incident,Medical Critical Incidents,Medical Error,Medical Incident, Critical,Medical Incidents, Critical,Never Events,Omission Medical Error,Omission Medical Errors,Surgeries, Wrong-Patient,Surgeries, Wrong-Site,Surgery, Wrong-Patient,Surgery, Wrong-Site,Wrong Patient Surgery,Wrong Procedure Errors,Wrong Site Surgery,Wrong-Patient Surgeries,Wrong-Procedure Error,Wrong-Site Surgeries
D019984	Quality Indicators, Health Care	Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.	Global Trigger Tool, Healthcare,Health Metrics,Healthcare Global Trigger Tool,Quality Indicators, Healthcare,Health Metric,Healthcare Quality Indicator,Healthcare Quality Indicators,Indicator, Healthcare Quality,Indicators, Healthcare Quality,Metrics, Health,Quality Indicator, Healthcare