Due to rapid change of healthcare environment and the awakening consciousness of health service consumers, healthcare quality becomes a major concern of hospital administrators. In 1999, Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation cooperated with Maryland Hospital Association and then implemented Taiwan Quality Indicator Project (TQIP). On the other hand, within the years 1998~ 2000, Taiwan College of Healthcare Executives developed a localized healthcare indicator series (referred to as Taiwan Healthcare Indicator Series, THIS, afterwards) aiming at providing a better system for monitoring medical care quality for the long run. Nevertheless, relevant reports show that so far not many hospitals actively participate in the THIS. The main purpose of this study is to explore those factors which might influence a district hospital¡¦s decision of whether participating in the THIS no not. Hospital administrators were the subjects of this study. Mailing survey was adopted to collect the data. In May, 2004, a total of 436 questionnaires were mailed out. 147 hospitals responded (i.e. a response rate of 33.72%). The key variables of interest may be classified into three groups-- hospital characteristics, perception of THIS, and professional technique related to THIS. Descriptive analyses showed that more than 60% district hospitals did not participate in the THIS; the reasons are listed in order as follows: lack of budget, lack of quality assurance specialists, indicator unable to meet hospital¡¦s requirement, human resource shortage, annual fee too expensive. As for those hospitals participating in THIS, their considerations are showed in order as follows: better reimbersencement, meeting the requirement of assessment, complying with regulation of the authority, and meeting the requirement of hospital policy and patient needs. Besides, a logistic regression analysis indicated that the most important factor influencing hospitals¡¦ participation in THIS is ¡§whether any medical quality related activity is implemented within the hospital.¡¨ With a response rate of 33.72% and with responding hospitals relatively restricted to Kaohsiung-Pingtung area, a careful generalization of results is needed. Further, it is suggested that a qualitative study design along with a higher response rate of quantitative analysis might help enhance the generalization for future study.

Background: We evaluated the validity of a set of 11 quality indicators for prostate cancer radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy by examining their association with outcomes. The selected indicators were: hospital volume, pre-treatment risk assessment, patient consultation with a radiation oncologist, appropriate follow-up care, leg immobilization during radiotherapy, bladder filling during radiotherapy, portal film target localization, use of nerve sparing surgery, operative blood loss, margin status and pelvic lymph node dissection. The selected outcomes were: cause-specific survival, disease-free survival, late morbidity (urinary incontinence, gastrointestinal and genitourinary morbidity), change in node stage from clinical N0 to pathologic N1, and margin status. Methods: Our study sample consisted of 1570 prostate cancer patients who were diagnosed in Ontario between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1998 who received radical prostatectomy within 6 months of diagnosis (n=646), or curative radiotherapy within 9 months of diagnosis (n=924). Quality of care, outcomes, and potential confounders were measured using patient chart and administrative data. Regression techniques were used to evaluate the associations between quality indicators and relevant outcomes. Results: For patients treated surgically, hospital volume met our test of validity. Patients treated in the lowest volume hospital (0-1 RP/month) were at greater risk of prostate cancer death than patients treated in the highest volume hospitals (7+ RP/month) (HR=5.37 95% CI=1.23-23.46). For patients treated with radiotherapy, leg immobilization and bladder filling during radiotherapy met our test of validity. Patients treated without leg immobilization were more likely to experience urinary incontinence (RR=2.18, 95% CI=1.23-3.87) and genitourinary late morbidities (RR=1.72, 95% CI=1.16-2.56) than patients who received leg immobilization. Patients who were treated with an empty bladder were more likely to experience GU late morbidities (RR=1.98, 95% CI=1.08-3.63) than those treated with a full bladder. The remaining indicators did not meet our test of validity. Conclusion: Our results support the validity of one surgical quality indicator and two radiotherapy quality indicators. Explanations for our non-significant findings, including limited study power, data quality, our definition and measurement of indicators, and a true failure to predict outcome(s) are discussed, and recommendations for further research are presented. / Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-07 20:26:34.461

The current body of knowledge concerning Agricultural Education quality in regards to its three components is not consistent and total program quality has not been defined scientifically. The purpose of this study was to determine quality indicators for instruction, SAE, and FFA according to experts (agricultural education teacher educators, state instructional staff, and high school teachers) across the United States. The conceptual framework for this study was the three circle model consisting of the three integral, intra-curricular components of Instruction, FFA, and SAE. This national study was descriptive in nature and utilized the Delphi technique to gather responses from an expert panel and combine the responses into one useful statement (Stitt-Gohdes andamp; Crews, 2004). The initial questionnaire consisted of three open-ended questions and was developed by the researcher while subsequent questionnaires were developed from the experts responses. The expert panel agreed upon 37 quality indicators for Instruction, 19 quality indicators for FFA, and 6 quality indicators for SAE.

Στόχος αυτής της Διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η μελέτη των Δεικτών Ποιότητας στην Κλινική Μηχανικη. Οι δείκτες ποιότητας είναι αντικειμενικές, αξιόπιστες, έγκυρες, ποιοτικές μετρήσεις διαδικασιών και χρησιμοποιούνται για την αξιολόγηση των διαδικασιών αυτών με όρους ποιότητας. Με τη διαδικτυακή εφαρμογή Web – Praxis, που έχει αναπτυχθεί μέσα από τη συνεργασία του Ινστιτούτου Βιοϊατρικής Τεχνολογίας (ΙΝΒΙΤ) και του εργαστηρίου Ιατρικής Φυσικής του τμήματος Ιατρικής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, συλλέχθησαν και καταγράφηκαν δεδομένα που υπήρχαν στο τμήμα Βιοϊατρικής Τεχνολογίας (ΤΒΙΤ) του Γ.Ν.Ν.Θ.Α. «Η Σωτηρία». Έπειτα, μετα από κατάλληλη επεξεργασία και συζήτησ, επιλέχθηκαν κάποιοι αντιπροσωπευτικοί δείκτες με τους οποίους μελετάται, στα πλαίσια αυτής τησ διπλωματικής εργασίας, εάν ένα μεγάλο ελληνικό νοσοκομείο ικανοποιεί τα πρότυπα της βελτίωσης, της ασφάλειας και της αποδοτικότητας. Ο σχολιασμός των αποτελεσμάτων κα ικανοποιεί τους στόχους της έρευνας και τέλος θα γίνει πρόταση για τη βελτιστοποίηση των εργαλείων και την καλύτερη αξιοποίηση των δεδομλενων, μέσα από νέους δείκτες. / The goal of this Master Diploma Thesis is the investigation of Quality Indicators in Clinical Engineering. A quality indicator is an objective, valid, quantitative measurement of a process: they are used for the evaluation of these processes with terms of quality assurance. With the web - based application Web – Praxis, that has been developed through the collaboration of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (INBIT) and the University of Patras Medical Physics laboratory, the available data in the Clinical Engineering Department of the General Hospital “H Sotiria” were collected and registered in the program. Afterwards, through the appropriate editing and discussion, some representative quality indicators were chosen, with which it is studied if such a big Greek Hospital satisfies the safety, improvement and efficiency standards. The commentary of the results will satisfy the goals of this research and in the end there will be suggestions for the optimization of the existing tools and for new quality indicators that could improve the performance of the department and satisfy the goals.

Linha de pesquisa: Curr?culos, Avalia??o, Pr?ticas Pedag?gicas e Forma??o de Professores. / Submitted by Jos? Henrique Henrique (jose.neves@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2018-03-27T17:39:59Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) alessandra_cristina_pacheco.pdf: 1470713 bytes, checksum: cffdd6bcf63c66f43807ca5015ce6618 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2018-03-29T13:24:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) alessandra_cristina_pacheco.pdf: 1470713 bytes, checksum: cffdd6bcf63c66f43807ca5015ce6618 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-29T13:24:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) alessandra_cristina_pacheco.pdf: 1470713 bytes, checksum: cffdd6bcf63c66f43807ca5015ce6618 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 / Esta pesquisa tem como principal objetivo investigar as poss?veis a??es implementadas pela Escola Estadual Matta Machado que contribuem para o desempenho dessa escola no IDEB, bem como identificar, de maneira geral, se e como s?o utilizados os resultados expressos pelo IDEB, e quais as poss?veis a??es utilizadas pela Escola diante desses dados. Na perspectiva de responder aos objetivos deste estudo, foi adotada uma metodologia de abordagem qualitativa, os dados foram produzidos atrav?s de an?lise documental, observa??es n?o participantes e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Para analisar os documentos selecionados da escola pesquisada foi utilizada a an?lise de conte?do, e para a an?lise dos dados emp?ricos foram elaboradas categorias de an?lise. Os resultados encontrados, confirmando as evid?ncias de outras pesquisas, apontam que os fatores associados ao desempenho da escola no IDEB s?o: dedica??o e compromisso dos profissionais com o processo de ensino e aprendizagem; participa??o e acompanhamento dos pais; gest?o democr?tica; trabalho em equipe; ambiente escolar respeitoso e harm?nico; foco na avalia??o como reguladora do processo de ensino e aprendizagem; foco nas atividades de leitura e escrita; interven??o cont?nua e paralela. Entretanto, os indicadores de qualidade da escola investigada fazem parte de um contexto. Assim, n?o devem ser tratados isoladamente. Cada escola possui suas especificidades, motivo pelo qual seus indicadores n?o devem ser entendidos como 'f?rmula de qualidade'. / Disserta??o (Mestrado Profissional) ? Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Educa??o, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2017. / This research has as main objective to investigate the possible actions implemented by Matta Machado State School that contribute to the performance of the school in IDEB, as well as to identify, in general, if and how the results expressed by the IDEB are used, and what possible actions used by the school. In order to respond to the objectives of this study, a qualitative approach was adopted, the data were produced through documentary analysis, non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews. In order to analyze the selected documents of the researched school, the content analysis was used, and for the analysis of the empirical data, categories of analysis were elaborated. The results found, confirming the evidences of other researches, indicate that the factors associated with the performance of the school in the IDEB are: dedication and commitment of the professionals with the teaching and learning process; parental involvement and monitoring; democratic management; team work; respectful and harmonious school environment; focus on evaluation as a regulator of the teaching and learning process; focus on reading and writing activities; continuous and parallel intervention. However, the quality indicators of the investigated school are part of a context, so they should not be treated in isolation. Each school has its specificities, which is why it?s indicators should not be understood as a 'quality formula'.

No description available.

This study aimed to provide information about the quality of the evidence on reading fluency instruction for at-risk students and students with reading/learning disabilities as a way to evaluate whether an instructional strategy is evidence-based and has potential for classroom use. An extensive search process with inclusion and exclusion criteria yielded a total of 18 studies to be included in the present study: 12 group design studies and six single-subject design studies. The quality indicators proposed by Gersten et al. (Except Child 71:149–164, 2005) and Horner et al. (Except Child 71:165–179, 2005) were applied to evaluate the quality of selected fluency intervention studies. Results revealed that (a) most group design studies provided little information about the intervention and agent for the comparison group, (b) internal and social validity were not clearly stated in single-subject design studies, and (c) procedural fidelity in assessment and intervention implementation was inadequately addressed in both group design and single-subject design studies. Lack of methodological rigor, which hampers determinations of the effectiveness of fluency instruction, the current status of intervention studies, and future directions are discussed.

Researchers have noted the lack of research to guide reading practice for students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Although comprehensive syntheses have identified promising practices and areas for future research, none have evaluated the rigor of studies according to quality indicators. The current study evaluated the extant single-case reading intervention research for this student population according to the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards. Thirty studies met article selection criteria, 20 (66.6%) of which had at least one dependent variable that did not meet design standards. Study findings suggest a need for researchers to employ stronger designs and place a greater emphasis on investigating the effects of reading instructional practices in inclusive settings. Overall, two reading interventions were identified as potentially promising: cognitive mapping and a listening while reading accommodation. Furthermore, findings suggest that it may be advantageous to embed behavioral strategies within reading interventions. Study limitations include the exclusive use of single-case design studies and a reliance on visual analysis to determine intervention effectiveness.

No description available.

Background. The consensus among Canadians with regards to end-of-life preferences is that with adequate support the majority prefer to live and die at home. Purpose. To compare quality indicator (QI) rates for home care clients receiving palliative and end-of-life care prior to and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. A retrospective population-based cohort design was used. Sixteen QIs informed by existing literature and a preliminary set of QIs recently evaluated by a modified Delphi panel were compared. Data were obtained from the over 280-item interRAI PC instrument for Ontario home care clients for two separate cohorts: the pre-COVID (January 14th, 2019 to March 16th, 2020) and COVID cohort (March 17th, 2020 to May 18th, 2021). A propensity score analysis was used to match on 21 covariates, resulting in a sample size of 2479 unique interRAI PC assessments per cohort. Alternative propensity score methods were explored as part of a sensitivity analysis. Results. After matching the pre-COVID and COVID cohorts (using nearest neighbour matching), five of the 16 QIs had statistically-significant differences in the QI rates. The two alternative propensity score methods produced slightly different results with fewer statistically-significant differences between the cohorts. However, in examining the effect sizes, the results of all propensity score methods were found to be not clinically meaningful. High rates of the prevalence of shortness of breath with activity, no advance directives, and fatigue were observed in both cohorts and across all three propensity score methods. Discussion. This study is the first to examine differences in QI rates for home care clients receiving palliative and end-of-life care before and during COVID in Ontario. Key limitations in interpreting the results include a limited understanding of the typical variation in QI rates over time and reliance on the comparison of a single proportion (the QI) in judging potential differences in quality. Importantly, a strength of this study was that these QIs focused on outcomes of care and were mainly symptom-focused as aspects of high-quality care valued by home care clients and families and in contrast to previous studies focusing on structure and processes of care. These QIs also indicated how frequently quality concerns may be occurring for those receiving palliative and end-of-life home care. Conclusion. It appears that QI rates did not change over the course of the pandemic in this population. Future work should be directed to understanding the temporal variation in these QI rates, risk-adjusting the QI rates for further comparison among jurisdictions, provinces, and countries and in creating benchmarks to project acceptable rates of different QIs. / Thesis / Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)