Search results for " Quality improvement"

Optimizing patient referral and center capacity in the management of chronic hepatitis C: Lessons from the Italian experience

2019

Abstract Aims In 2017 the Italian Drug Agency (Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco, AIFA) revised the criteria for access to therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C as part of a three-year plan to eradicate HCV. We conducted a Delphi study to determine strategies to identify and treat patients with HCV and to develop through a shared pathway, a model to manage patient referral and optimize prescription center capacity with the overall aim of increasing access to therapy. Methods The process took place in two phases – Phase I (January 2017), before the criteria for treatment of HCV were revised and Phase II (May 2017) when AIFA developed a framework for the eradication of HCV infection in Ita…

The accreditation system of Italian medical residency programs: fostering quality and sustainability of the National Health Service

2020

Summary. Background and aim: In June 2017, University and Health Ministries jointly enacted a decree imple-menting a new accreditation system for the Italian post-graduate medical schools (residency programs). We report the innovations introduced through the reform. Methods: Universities were called to submit post-gradu-ate medical school projects to the National Observatory on medical residency programs, the inter-institutional committee responsible for the entire accreditation process, through an interactive web platform. The adherence to minimum standards, requirements and the performances were measured. After this first assessment, universities were asked to provide programs of improvem…

Identification of the Uric Acid Thresholds Predicting an Increased Total and Cardiovascular Mortality Over 20 Years

2020

Serum uric acid (SUA) levels discriminating across the different strata of cardiovascular risk is still unknown. By utilizing a large population-based database, we assessed the threshold of SUA that increases the risk of total mortality and cardiovascular mortality (CVM). The URRAH study (Uric Acid Right for Heart Health) is a multicentre retrospective, observational study, which collected data from several large population-based longitudinal studies in Italy and subjects recruited in the hypertension clinics of the Italian Society of Hypertension. Total mortality was defined as mortality for any cause, CVM as death due to fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, sudden cardiac death, or heart…

A statistical framework for teaching improvement in higher education

2008

Effectiveness of a Psychosocial Care Quality Improvement Strategy to Address Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer: The HuCare2 Stepped-Wedge Clust…

2021

Key Points Question Does an implementation strategy integrating psychosocial care into cancer centers improve at least 1 of 2 domains (emotional or social function) of health-related quality of life? Findings This stepped-wedge cluster randomized clinical trial included 762 patients with cancer at high risk for reduced quality of life. Health-related quality of life score improved from baseline to 3 months among participants in the Humanization in Cancer Care Quality Improvement Strategy arm vs the usual care arm, showing a statistically significant difference for emotional function, but not for social function. Meaning This study suggests the use of an implementation strategy aiming to pro…

International consensus: What else can we do to improve diagnosis and therapeutic strategies in patients affected by autoimmune rheumatic diseases (r…

2017

Autoimmune diseases are a complex set of diseases characterized by immune system activation and, although many progresses have been done in the last 15 years, several unmet needs in the management of these patients may be still identified. Recently, a panel of international Experts, divided in different working groups according to their clinical and scientific expertise, were asked to identify, debate and formulate a list of key unmet needs within the field of rheumatology, serving as a roadmap for research as well as support for clinicians. After a systematic review of the literature, the results and the discussions from each working group were summarised in different statements. Due to th…

Essential strategies in HAI prevention and control: performance assessment through the implementation of the HAI-CoSIP tool of the GISIO-SItI group. …

2018

Healthcare-Associated Infections are a great concern for worldwide healthcare systems and represent a considerable threat to patient safety, leading to adverse clinical outcomes. A defined panel of indicators represents a key element to guide Healthcare Organizations towards identification of main gaps, implementation of effective actions and continuous improvements on Healthcare-Associated Infections prevention and control activities. A review on accreditation systems conducted by the Italian Study Group of Hospital Hygiene of the Italian Society of Hygiene Preventive Medicine and Public Health revealed a substantial heterogeneity of implemented standards and led to the development of a co…

Patient safety culture in Italian out-of-hours primary care service: a national cross-sectional survey study.

2020

BackgroundOut-of-hours (OOH) services in Italy provide >10 million consultations every year. To the authors' knowledge, no data on patient safety culture (PSC) have been reported.AimTo assess PSC in the Italian OOH setting.Design & settingNational cross-sectional survey using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire — Ambulatory Version (SAQ-AV).MethodThe SAQ-AV was translated into Italian and distributed in a convenience sample of OOH doctors in 2015. Answers were collected anonymously by Qualtrics. Stata (version 14) was used to estimate Cronbach’s alpha, perform exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlate items to doctors’ characteristics, and to do item descriptive analysis…

Systematic review with radiomics quality score of cholangiocarcinoma: an EuSoMII Radiomics Auditing Group Initiative

2023

Abstract Objectives To systematically review current research applications of radiomics in patients with cholangiocarcinoma and to assess the quality of CT and MRI radiomics studies. Methods A systematic search was conducted on PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus databases to identify original studies assessing radiomics of cholangiocarcinoma on CT and/or MRI. Three readers with different experience levels independently assessed quality of the studies using the radiomics quality score (RQS). Subgroup analyses were performed according to journal type, year of publication, quartile and impact factor (from the Journal Citation Report database), type of cholangiocarcinoma, imaging modali…

The safety attitudes questionnaire for out-of-hours service in primary healthcare—Psychometric properties of the Croatian version

2020

The aim of the study was to assess the reliability and construct validity of the Croatian trans- lation of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire—Ambulatory version (SAQ-AV) in the out-of- hours (OOH) primary care setting. A cross-sectional observational study using anonymous web-survey was carried out targeting a convenience sample of 358 health professionals working in the Croatian OOH primary care service. The final sample consisted of 185 questionnaires (response rate 51.7%). Psychometric properties were assessed using exploratory hierarchical factor analysis with Schmid-Leiman rotation to bifactor solution, McDonald’s ω, and Cronbach’s α. Five group factors were identified: Organization cl…