title: Informatics resources to support health care quality improvement in the veterans health administration.
abstract: Information systems are increasingly important for measuring and improving health care quality. A number of integrated health care delivery systems use advanced information systems and integrated decision support to carry out quality assurance activities, but none as large as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The VHA's Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) is a large-scale, multidisciplinary quality improvement initiative designed to ensure excellence in all areas where VHA provides health care services, including inpatient, outpatient, and long-term care settings. In this paper, we describe the role of information systems in the VHA QUERI process, highlight the major information systems critical to this quality improvement process, and discuss issues associated with the use of these systems.
authors.affiliation: VA Information Resource Center, Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital, PO Box 5000 (151V), Hines, IL 60141, USA. hynes@research.hines.med.va.gov
authors.forename: Denise M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hynes
authors.forename: Ruth A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rappaport
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Demakis
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D007256:Information Systems; D017749:Total Quality Management; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000458:organization & administration*