title: Collecting data for clinical indicators.
abstract: The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is currently testing clinical indicators that will become an important part of hospital quality assurance programs. Implementation of clinical indicators may necessitate more extensive data collection than is now being done. This article reviews important considerations in the development of a data collection system that facilitates the evaluation of indicators of clinical performance. The evolution of the system currently used by the Nutritional Support Service at Pennsylvania Hospital is provided.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skipper
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D004045:Dietary Services / Q000592:standards*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D010414:Pennsylvania; D016730:Program Development; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*