title: Systematic Quality Monitoring For Specialized Palliative Care Services: Development of a Minimal Set of Quality Indicators for Palliative Care Study (QPAC).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A feasibility evaluation of a comprehensive quality indicator set for palliative care identified the need for a minimal selection of these indicators to monitor quality of palliative care services with short questionnaires for the patients, caregivers, and family carers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop a minimal indicator set for efficient quality assessment in palliative care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2 round modified Research ANd Development corporation in collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles (RAND/UCLA) expert consultation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirteen experts in palliative care (professionals and patient representatives).
  
  
  METHODS
  In a home assignment, experts were asked to score 80 developed indicators for "priority" to be included in the minimal set on a scale from 0 (lowest priority) to 9 (highest priority). The second round consisted of a plenary meeting in which the minimal set was finalized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-nine of the 80 indicators were discarded, while 19 were definitely selected after the home assignment, and 22 were proposed for discussion during the meeting; 12 of these survived the selection round. The final minimal indicator set for palliative care consists of 5 indicators about the physical aspects of care; 6 about the psychosocial aspects of care; 13 about information, communication, and care planning; 5 about type of care; and 2 about continuity of care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A minimal set of 31 indicators reflecting all the important issues in palliative care was created for palliative care services to assess the quality of their care in a quick and efficient manner. Additional topic-specific optional modules are available for more thorough assessment of specific aspects of care.
authors.affiliation: 1 End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.|2 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leemans
authors.affiliation: 1 End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.|2 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.|3 Department of Medical Oncology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deliens
authors.affiliation: 1 End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.|2 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.|4 Department of General Practice, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van den Block
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Pharmacology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vander Stichele
authors.affiliation: 6 Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|7 NIVEL-Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Francke
authors.affiliation: 1 End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.|2 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D003697:Delphi Technique; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: minimal data set; palliative care; quality assessment; quality improvement; quality indicators