Quality: What does it mean in Acute Medicine and how do we measure it?

Abstract

Acute Medicine is a specialty that is not defined by a single organ system and sits at the interface between primary and secondary care. In order to document improvements in the quality of care delivered a system of metrics is required. A number of frameworks for measurements exist to quantify quality of care at the level of patients, teams and organisations, such as measures of population health, patient satisfaction and cost per patient. Measures can capture whether care is safe, effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient and equitable. Measurement in Acute Medicine is challenged by the often-transient nature of the contact between Acute Medicine clinicians and patients, the lack of diagnostic labels, a low degree of standardisation and difficulties in capturing the patient experience in the context. In a time of increasing ecological and financial constraints, reflecting about the most appropriate metrics to document the impact of Acute Medicine is required.

Developing priorities for quality improvement in acute medicine using a modified Delphi method A consensus process hosted by the Society for Acute Medicine Quality Improvement Committee (SAM-QI)

“…The first questionnaire was anchored by a review of quality improvement topics from abstracts presented at SAM conferences 15 and a narrative review of quality metrics in acute care. 16 The first round of questions reviewed 12 topics. The expert panel was asked to rank the topics on both their impact and ease of implementation.…”

Editorial – Evolve, Adapt, Innovate and Deliver: Acute Medicine post COVID pandemic

“…Chris Subbe and the SAM Quality Improvement team have written a review considering frameworks for measuring quality in Acute Medicine. 1 Quantifying the impact that Acute Medicine has on the patient journey with defined measurable metrics is key to embedding high quality acute care.…”