A survey of medical quality assurance programs in Ontario hospitals.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and types of medical quality assurance practices in Ontario hospitals.


METHODS
Survey.


METHODS
All teaching, community, chronic care, rehabilitation and psychiatric hospitals that were members of the Ontario Hospital Association as of May 1990.


METHODS
The person deemed by the chief executive officer of each hospital to be most responsible for medical administration.


METHODS
A questionnaire to obtain information on each hospital's use of criteria audit, indicators inventory, occurrence screening and reporting, and utilization review and management (URM) activities.


METHODS
Prevalence of the use of the quality assurance activities, the people responsible for the activities and the relative success of the URM program in modifying physicians' performance.


RESULTS
Of the 245 member hospitals participants from 179 (73%) responded. Criteria audits were performed in 136 (76%), indicators inventory in 43 (24%), occurrence screening in 44 (25%), occurrence reporting in 61 (34%) and URM in 123 (69%). In-hospital deaths were reviewed in 157 (88%) of the hospitals. In all, 87 (55%) of the respondents from hospitals that had a URM program or were developing one indicated that their program was successful in modifying physicians' practices, and 29 (18%) reported that it was not successful; 26 (16%) stated that the effect was still unknown, and 16 (10%) did not respond. Seventy (40%) stated that results of tissue reviews were reported at least 10 times per year and 94 (83%) that medical record reviews were reported at least as often. The differences in the prevalence of the quality assurance activities between the hospitals were not found to be significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Many Ontario hospitals are conducting a wide variety of quality assurance activities. Further study is required to determine whether the differences in prevalence of these activities between hospitals would be significant in a larger, perhaps national, sample. Strategies are needed to ensure universal involvement and participation in the improvement of the quality of care and the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of health care treatments. Recommendations to achieve these objectives are suggested.
Barrable
B
B
Ontario Hospital Association, Don Mills.
D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires