QUALITY OF CARE IN GENERAL PRACTICE: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE THE QUALITY OF CLINICAL CARE

Description

There is a huge variability in the technical quality of health care within and between different health systems around the world. At national level ive do not have an information system that monitors the quality of primary care at different times and settings. However, there are a number of methods developed to measure technical quality of care through the comparison of specific standards with routine care. The development of review criteria — defined as systematically developed statements that can be used to assess the appropriateness of specific health care decisions, services and outcomes — is one of the methods used to define standards. It incorporates both the scientific evidence available and the expert opinion about specific clinical areas to be evaluated.