The adoption of healthcare information technology (HIT) has been advocated by various groups as critical in addressing the growing crisis in the healthcare industry. Despite the plethora of evidence on the benefits of HIT, however, the healthcare industry lags behind many other economic sectors in the adoption of information technology. A significant number of healthcare providers still keep patient information on paper. With the recent trends of reimbursement reduction and rapid technological advances, therefore, it would be critical to understand differences in structural characteristics and healthcare performance between providers that do and that do not adopt HIT. This is accomplished in this research, first by identifying organizational and contextual factors associated with the adoption of HIT in US acute care hospitals and second by examining the relationships between the adoption of HIT and two important healthcare outcomes: patient safety and quality of care. After conducting literature a review, the structure-process-outcome model and diffusion of innovations theory were used to develop a conceptual framework. Hypotheses were developed and variables were selected based on the conceptual framework. Publicly available secondary data were obtained from the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) databases. The information technologies were grouped into three clusters: clinical, administrative, and strategic decision making ITs. After the data from the three sources were cleaned and merged, regression models were built to identify organizational and contextual factors that affect HIT adoption and to determine the effects of HIT adoption on patient safety and quality of care. Most prior studies on HIT were restricted in scope as they primarily focused on a limited number of technologies, single healthcare outcomes, individual healthcare institutions, limited geographic locations, and/or small market segments. This limits the generalizability of the findings and makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. The new contribution of the present study lies in the fact that it uses nationally representative latest available data and it incorporates a large number of technologies and two risk adjusted healthcare outcomes. Large size and urban location were found to be the most influential hospital characteristics that positively affect information technology adoption. However, the adoption of HIT was not found to significantly affect hospitals' performance in terms of patient safety and quality of care measures. Perhaps a remarkable finding of this study is the better quality of care performance of hospitals in the Midwest, South, and West compared to hospitals in the Northeast despite the fact that the latter reported higher HIT adoption rates. In terms of theoretical implications, this study confirms that organizational and contextual factors (structure) affect adoption of information technology (process) which in turn affects healthcare outcomes (outcome), though not consistently, validating Avedis Donabedian's structure-process-outcome model. In addition, diffusion of innovations theory links factors associated with resource abundance, access to information, and prestige with adoption of information technology. The present findings also confirm that hospitals with these attributes adopted more technologies. The methodological implication of this study is that the lack of a single common variable and uniformity of data among the data sources imply the need for standardization in data collection and preparation. In terms of policy implication, the findings in this study indicate that a significant number of hospitals are still reluctant to use clinical HIT. Thus, even though the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 was a good stimulus, a more aggressive policy intervention from the government is warranted in order to direct the healthcare industry towards a better adoption of clinical HIT.

No description available.

The U.S. health care delivery system faces serious challenges such as an increasing demand for services due to an aging population, unhealthy lifestyles, growth in the number of uninsured individuals, and an increase in chronic diseases. At the same time, the system has to cope with a limited supply of money, physicians, and nurses inferior quality of care delivered by U.S. hospitals. While the U.S. hospital industry is adapting to address these issues, not much progress in improving the quality of care delivered has been made over the last decade. However, theories exist that management systems, organizational traits, and leadership are key factors for hospitals to improve quality of care outcomes. This study takes a holistic look at these factors to identify and analyze critical drivers for better quality of care outcomes of U.S. hospitals. The study also aims to identify differences between chief executive officers' (CEOs) leadership traits among lean (mediocre performance), high (top 20th percentile), and low performing (bottom 20th percentile) U.S. hospitals in regards to their quality of care measures. Two separate online surveys were conducted. The first online survey was targeted at all 4,697 U.S. hospitals that are required to disclose quality of care measures to the Federal government. Results of this first survey revealed that two management system factors drive quality of care outcomes of U.S. hospitals. Furthermore, findings also show that critical access hospitals have a lower quality of care performance than acute care hospitals. Thus, based on the results from this survey, we concluded that management system factors are main drivers of hospital performance, whereas organizational trait and leadership factors did not significantly contribute to hospital performance. A second survey to CEOs and CEO followers in 9 selected hospitals found significant differences between CEO traits leading lean and low performing hospitals, and, to a lesser degree, significant differences among high and low performing hospitals. However, the study did not find any significant differences in CEO traits between lean and high performing hospitals. Findings also include that some management system factors differed significantly between lean and high performing hospitals, but no evidence for such differences could be found between lean and high and high and low performing hospitals, respectively. These results suggest that management systems and CEO leadership traits play an important role in determining U.S. hospital performance as measured by their quality of care. / Ph. D.

No / This paper is ed from an action research project on promoting family-centred care in Nigeria through the practice of Nigerian Primary Nursing (NMPN). This article will present results of comparative evaluation of the impact of primary nursing on the quality of care received by patients in a 37-bedded acute medical-surgical, mixed sex ward in a specialist hospital in eastern Nigeria. A total of 44 nurses' interactions with 10 patients in the pre-NMPN period and 58 nurses' interactions with eight patients in the post-NMPN period were assessed using QUALPACS (Quality Patient Care Scale.). Results showed a significant improvement in the quality of nursing care with primary nursing practice. The greatest improvement in quality of nursing appeared to be in the elements that address the individual needs of the patient, while the smallest improvements were in the area of physical care--elements of routine, technical nursing care. Implications of the study and recommendations for further studies are made.

This article looks at the relationship between stress, nursing integrity and patient care. It has been argued that the professional integrity of nurses has been eroded and consequently they have become more susceptible to anxiety, stress and exhaustion, potentially affecting care delivery. The authors suggest that the goal of providing high professional standards is threatened by increased service demands, and there is therefore a need for nurses to develop effective coping strategies to manage stress resulting from competing tensions in the workplace.; � This article looks at the relationship between stress, nursing integrity and patient care. It has been argued that the professional integrity of nurses has been eroded and consequently they have become more susceptible to anxiety, stress and exhaustion, potentially affecting care delivery. The authors suggest that the goal of providing high professional standards is threatened by increased service demands, and there is therefore a need for nurses to develop effective coping strategies to manage stress resulting from competing tensions in the workplace.

There are 353 NHS hospitals in the United Kingdom, and within these hospitals there is wide variation in the electronic prescribing systems applied. Indeed, only one hospital uses a single system in all of its clinical areas. Medication error is the biggest issue in the health care profession in respect to patient safety—

Bakgrund Den åldrande befolkningen i Sverige ställer idag högre krav på kvaliteten inom äldreomsorgen. Delaktighet har identifierats som en nyckelfaktor för att förbättra vårdkvaliteten, arbeta personcentrerat och främja de äldres välbefinnande. Syfte Syftet med studien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors och äldre personers erfarenheter av delaktighet i omvårdnaden inom äldreomsorgen. Metod Studien baserades på en systematisk litteraturöversikt där befintlig forskning om ämnet analyserats och ett nytt resultat framställts. Resultat Resultatet visade på att både sjuksköterskor och de äldre värderade delaktighet högt inom vårdandet. Det framkom två huvudkategorier vilket var; vårdmöte och individanpassad omvårdnad. Dessa huvudkategorier indikerar på att resultatet både innehöll hinder som exempelvis brist på tid och resurser men även förhållningssätt som främjade delaktighet, exempelvis individanpassad vård. Slutsats Sammanfattningsvis visade arbetet på att det finns ett ytterligare behov av utbildning hos sjuksköterskor inom området delaktighet och organisatoriska förändringar som kan främja delaktighet i den individanpassade vården hos de äldre. Där utveckling inom området kan ge möjlighet för sjuksköterskan att kunna arbeta utifrån ett personcentrerat förhållningssätt där de äldres önskemål och preferenser står i centrum för att förbättra deras livskvalitet och välbefinnande. / Background The aging population in Sweden currently imposes higher demands on the quality of elderly care. Participation has been recognized as a crucial factor for enhancing the quality of care, working in a person-centered manner, and promoting the well-being of the elderly. Aim The aim of the study was to describe the experiences of nurses and elderly individuals regarding participation in nursing care within elderly care services. Method The study is based on a systematic literature review where existing research on the subjectis analyzed, and new findings are produced. Results The findings indicated that both nurses and the elderly highly valued participation in care. Two main categories emerged: care meetings and individualized care. These main categories suggest that the results included both barriers, such as a lack of time and resources, and approaches that promoted participation, such as individualized care. Conclusions In summary, the work demonstrated that there is an additional need for education among healthcare personnel in the field of participation and organizational changes that can promote individualized care for the elderly. Development in the field can provide the opportunity for nurses to work from a person-centered approach where the elderly's wishes and preferences are central to improving their quality of life and well-being.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of the study was to assess the adult patients' perception of the quality of care received, following a visit to a doctor at Mthatha General Hospital Outpatients Department to establish whether it meets the patients' expectations, and to derive recommendations to improve the quality and assure that it is maintained. A cross-sectional survey was used to obtain the relevant data. A structured interview questionnaire was administered to a systemic sample of 204 adult patients attending the General Outpatients clinic at Mthatha General Hospital after a consultation with a doctor. Data was gathered and analyzed on the 204 patients' records using a Statistical package for Social sciences. This study has revealed that most patients are female (59%), aged between 16 and 70 years, with the majority in the 41 to 50 year age group. The majority of patients are unemployed (55.4%), with grade 1-8 level of education, have presence of long-standing illness or disability (54.9%), and are married (53.4%). The patients' perception of the quality of care was positive. The interpersonal aspects of care was judged by patients to be the most important, followed by technical aspects. Socio-demographic influences on perception of care were significant in those patients with long-standing illness or disability in respect of outcome aspects of care. It is recommended that patients' perception of the care provided to them be periodically assessed to ascertain if it meets their needs. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die studie was om die volwasse pasient se persepsie van die kwaliteit van versorgingsdiens, soos ervaar na 'n besoek aan 'n dokter by die Mthatha Algemene Hospitaal Buitepasiente Afdeling, te bepaal om gevolglik vas te stel of aan die pasient se verwagtinge voldoen is en om aanbevelings hiervan af te lei om kwaliteit te verbeter en te verseker dat dit volgehou word. 'n Deursnee peiling is gebruik om toepaslike data te bekom. 'n Gestruktureerde onderhoud-vraelys is aan 'n sistemiese monster van 204 volwasse pasiente by die algemene buitepasiente kliniek van die Mthatha Algemene Hospitaai gedoen na 'n besoek aan 'n dokter. Data uit die 204 pasienterekords is versamel en analiseer deur middel van 'n statistiese pakket vir die sosiale wetenskappe. Resultate toon dat die meerderheid pasiente vroulik (59%) en tussen 16 en 70 jaar oud is en oorwegend in die 41 tot 50 jaar ouderdomsgroep val. Die meerderheid pasiente is werkloos (55.4%), het 'n graad 1-8 vlak-opvoeding, vertoon met 'n langtermyn siekte toestand of ongeskiktheid (54.9%) en is getroud (53.4%). Die pasiente se persepsie van die kwaliteit van versorging was positief. Interpersoonlike aspekte van versorging is deur pasiente as die belangrikste beskou, gevolg deur tegniese aspekte. Sosiodemografiese invloede op die persepsie van uitkoms-verwante aspekte van versorging was betekenisvol by pasiente met langtermyn siekte toestande of ongeskikthede. Daar word aanbeveel dat pasiente se persepsie aangaande die versorging wat hulle ontvang periodiek beoordeel word om vas te stel of aan hulle behoeftes voldoen word.

Résumé Cette thèse est le rassemblement, par blocs homogènes, de notes d’orientation, de présentations orales, de textes variés, rédigés pour des revues scientifiques, comme chapitres de livres, pour des colloques ou des congrès, pour divers décideurs politiques, des années 80 à ce jour. Son but est de montrer leur cohérence avec un fil conducteur commun : le développement d’outils conceptuels et méthodologiques utiles pour la pratique de la médecine générale en particulier, pour le système de dispensation des soins plus globalement. L’impact espéré est une amélioration de la qualité des soins dispensés, à l’échelle individuelle (relation soignant/soigné) ou à l’échelle collective (système de santé). Les différents blocs se succèdent dans l’ordre suivant : q Chapitre 1 : Introduction. Bloc 1 : Concepts philosophiques q Chapitre 2 : La transdisciplinarité. Concept transcendant la multidisciplinarité (simple juxtaposition indépendante de différentes approches disciplinaires), l’interdisciplinarité (pénétration de différentes disciplines pour éclairer plus complètement un même phénomène) pour arriver à une compréhension globale et homogène où chaque discipline utilise des éléments des autres pour pallier ses manques et ses limites. q Chapitre 3 : La plainte, du normal au pathologique. Développements philosophiques et scientifiques, en complémentarité et en prise directe sur la réalité clinique, sur le normal et le pathologique, le moyen et le divergent, etc. q Chapitre 4 : Les quatre formes de la prévention. Prolongation du texte précédent, en définissant les trois formes classiques de la prévention (primaire au stade « normal », secondaire au stade pathologique mais pré-clinique, et tertiaire au stade clinique), et en introduisant le concept nouveau de prévention quaternaire, ou protection de la population et du système de soins de l’angoisse des soignés et des soignants. q Chapitre 5 : Critique et autocritique du principe de classification. Développement sur les nécessités contradictoires de l’homogénéité et de la complétude (donc du respect de toutes les nuances et de toutes les spécificités), et de la réduction et du traitement de l’information (donc de la prise en compte du classement et des catégorisations). Bloc 2 : Concepts politiques q Chapitre 6 : Les problèmes d’environnement en relation avec la santé. Rapport d’une recherche destinée à élaborer un outil opérationnel à l’usage des médecins généralistes, pour les aider à être sensibilisés aux problèmes d’environnement en relation avec la santé, à diagnostiquer les plus fréquents et les plus importants d’entre eux, et à les prendre en charge de manière non spécialisée. q Chapitre 7 : Faim de travail, fin de la santé. A partir de chiffres concrets, démonstration du lien entre morbidité/mortalité et statut socio-économique. Selon les temps et les lieux, les profils épidémiologiques sont différents, mais ce sont toujours les mêmes populations (position socio-économique basse dans la société, stress professionnel lié à la hiérarchie) qu’on retrouve dans le bas des échelles. q Chapitre 8 : L’éducation à la santé à la Maison Médicale de Forest. Rapport de 15 ans d’éducation et de promotion de la santé dans une maison médicale, sous différents angles (clinique, opérationnel, conceptuel, culturel etc). q Chapitres 9, 10, 11 et 12 : Les soins de santé de 1ère ligne ; Synthèse et communication, ou les fonctions de base de la médecine de famille ; Proposition « martyr » pour une restructuration de la 1ère ligne à Bruxelles ; Mise sur pied d’un centre pilote « urgences » ambulatoire. Plusieurs notes d’orientation proposant quelques modèles théoriques de systèmes de dispensation des soins, basés sur certains principes tels division en niveau de soins, filières de soins, intégration de l’ambulatoire et de l’hospitalier, prise en compte des spécificités des grandes métropoles, des problèmes liés à l’accessibilité et aux urgences. q Chapitre 13 : Les systèmes locaux de santé (SyLoS) : un élément de réponse à la crise du secteur de santé en Belgique ? Proposition, mise sur pied et évaluation de petites unités fonctionnelles de proximité, constituées de soignants intra- et extra-hospitaliers, dans un objectif commun d’amélioration de la qualité des soins, en partant de situations réellement vécues et ayant posé problème. q Chapitre 14 : Le financement forfaitaire à la capitation : une alternative au traditionnel payement à l’acte ? Revue de la littérature internationale sur les systèmes de financement des soins dans une vingtaine de pays différents. Démonstration des limites et des perversions du payement à l’acte intégral. Proposition d’un système de financement global mélangeant payement à l’acte, payement par forfait à la capitation, payement à l’objectif, payement structurel, payement par le patient. q Chapitre 15 : Les pratiques solo dispensent-elles des soins de moins bonne qualité ? Critiques et commentaires d’un article du BMJ sur le sujet. Tentative de réponses au départ d’éléments organisationnels, statistiques et épidémiologiques. Bloc 3 : Concepts relatifs à la pratique clinique q Chapitres 16 et 17 : L’assurance de qualité et le médecin de famille ; Les critères de qualité : tout le monde en parle. Synthèse théorique sur l’assurance de qualité en soins primaires. Définition des concepts de base : critères de qualité, standards et objectifs, méthodes, évaluation et indicateurs, limites et problèmes. q Chapitre 18 : Système de santé, système d’information et méthodes d’évaluation. Structuration du dossier médical global du médecin généraliste, positionnement dans les filières cliniques et de dispensation des soins, utilité pour l’auto-évaluation, la formation, la connaissance scientifique, l’assurance de qualité et la décision politique. q Chapitre 19 : La CISP, concepts généraux et développements. Construction de la Classification Internationale des Soins Primaires, version initiale. Nouveaux principes classificatoires développés au départ des limites de la CIM (Classification Internationale des Maladies) de l’OMS, utilisée dans les dossiers hospitaliers. Apports de la nouvelle (2e) version, CISP-2. Extension des classifications vers les thesaurus (LOCAS et TB3), au travers du transcodage CISP/CIM. q Chapitre 20 : L’approche par problèmes et les éléments du SOAP. Description de l’approche par épisodes (en lieu et place de la notion classique de diagnostics) et de l’analyse de la relation soignant/soigné dans ses quatre dimensions (subjectif, objectif, appréciation et planification). q Chapitre 21 : Structuration du dossier médical électronique : concepts et histoire. A partir des notions cliniques de problèmes et de SOAP, élaboration et explicitation d’un nouveau modèle de dossier médical informatisé, constitué de la relation entre 7 éléments structurants (élément de soins, démarche, contact, sous-contact, service, dispensateur, temps). Ce nouveau modèle est la base du label des logiciels médicaux électronique belges. q Chapitre 22 : Casuistique appliquée. Application à vocation pédagogique du précédent modèle, à partir de deux cas cliniques exemplatifs. q Chapitre 23 : Le DUSOI/Wonca, un indice de gravité pour la médecine générale. Outil développé par la Wonca pour évaluer la gravité de l’état de santé d’un patient à un moment donné au cours de son évolution clinique, évaluation à la fois ponctuelle et diachronique. Application pratique à plusieurs situations réelles. q Chapitre 24 : Evaluation de l’état fonctionnel : les cartes COOP/Wonca. Outil également développé par la Wonca pour l’auto-évaluation fonctionnelle des patients. Il s’agit d’un jeu de 6 cartes représentant graphiquement dans un langage universel l’état de santé somatique, mentale et sociale, de manière à la fois ponctuelle et longitudinale, évalué par le patient lui-même. q Chapitre 25 : Valeurs, paradigmes et recherche en médecine générale. Comparaison des concepts fondamentaux de la recherche traditionnelle, de la recherche opérationnelle et de la recherche action. Intérêt relatif de chacun de ces types de recherche pour des questions et des situations spécifiques, de même que pour l’utilisation des méthodes quantitatives ou qualitatives. q Chapitres 26 et 27 : La CISP et le système SOAP, des outils pour bien décider dans l’incertitude (application à la clinique de la céphalée en médecine de famille) ; « Docteur, j’ai mal au genou », le point de vue du généraliste. Applications à la connaissance scientifique et à la pratique clinique des différents concepts développés dans les chapitres précédents à partir de deux situations fréquentes : les céphalées et les douleurs du genou. q Chapitre 28 et 29 : Vous vouliez des statistiques ? Statistiques Maison Médicale Santé Plurielle 2003. Méthode d’analyse des différentes données disponibles dans une maisons médicale, recueillies systématiquement en temps réel pendant l’activité clinique. Démonstration de son intérêt pour l’auto-évaluation de l’institution, son pilotage cohérent, et les rapports avec le politique. Les chiffres sont des chiffres et seulement des chiffres. Ils doivent être compris, contextualisés, critiqués, commentés et rendus utiles dans leur situation locale spécifique, mais aussi comme partie d’un paquet plus global de données épidémiologiques. q Chapitre 30 : Le bilan biologique de base, un examen inutile ? Définition critique « evidence-based medicine » des examens biologiques de routine de dépistage. q Chapitre 31 : Un projet d’assurance de qualité « diabète » à la Maison Médicale Santé Plurielle. Compte-rendu de l’expérience d’un programme d’assurance de qualité multidisciplinaire dans une maison médicale. Définition opérationnelle d’une série d’indicateurs, évaluation de ceux-ci avant et après le programme. Apports et limites de l’expérience. et q Chapitre 32 : Conclusion. Trente et un chapitres, c’est beaucoup. Et en même temps, c’est très peu : la médecine générale se pratique dans un contexte radicalement différent de ce qu’il était il y a moins de 50 ans. Si elle ne redéfinit pas clairement son rôle et ses outils, elle risque donc de se replier dans des positions défensives et passéistes qui, si elles sont nécessaires face à la médicalisation et à la spécialisation croissantes, ne suffisent cependant pas pour expliciter et faire reconnaître sa spécificité. Rappelons que celle-ci réside essentiellement dans la complexité, puisqu’il s’agit d’aborder l’humain à la fois sur le plan individuel, dans une approche bio-médicale et psychodynamique, et sur le plan collectif, en terme de santé publique, et en faisant appel à diverses disciplines telles que la sociologie, l’anthropologie, l’ethnomédecine. Au fil de ma pratique, j’ai ressenti la nécessité de construire, en dehors du champ bio-médical qui reste la référence essentielle au niveau du savoir académique, des outils spécifiques permettant d’augmenter la qualité des soins primaires. Les outils présentés au fil de cette thèse ont été élaborés dans un constant aller-retour entre la théorie et la pratique, et selon un cheminement traversant plusieurs disciplines. Certains de ces outils sont de type conceptuel, comme la transdisciplinarité, la prévention quaternaire, d’autres sont d’ordre méthodologique, la structure du dossier médical, le SyLoS, les classifications et le thésaurus, le carnet de bord. Tous ces outils visent à baliser la démarche du médecin généraliste, à lui donner des repères théoriques et pratiques à même de le guider dans la complexité des situations qu’il rencontre, le but ultime étant de soutenir une pratique de qualité respectant la singularité des histoires, des sujets rencontrés. Ces outils spécifiques ont été testés sur le terrain ; ils sont actuellement utilisés et intégrés par des médecins généralistes et d’autres professionnels des soins de santé primaires. Leur faisabilité et leur utilité pour améliorer la qualité des soins semblent donc démontrées, mais aussi certaines difficultés d’implantation puisqu’ils engagent les soignants dans une démarche réflexive, les amenant à se questionner sur le sens et l’efficacité de leurs pratiques, pour mieux les évaluer. Summary This thesis is the gathering, through homogenous blocks, of orientation’s notes, oral presentations and various texts, written for scientific journals, as book chapters, for colloquiums or conferences, for different political decision-makers, from the 1980s up until today. The goal is to demonstrate their coherence with a common direction: the development of conceptual and methodological tools for the practice of general medicine in particular, for the system of care-giving more globally. The hoped impact is an improvement of care quality, provided at the individual level (relationship care-receiver/care-giver) or at the collective level (health system). The different blocks are organized according to the following order: q Chapter 1 : Introduction. Block 1 : Philosophical concept q Chapter 2: Trandisciplinarity. Concept transcending the multidisciplinarity (simple juxtaposition independent from different disciplinary approaches) and the interdisciplinarity (penetration of different disciplines to more fully enlighten the same phenomenon) to reach a more global and homogenous understanding where disciplines use each others’ elements to overcome their own lacks and limitations. q Chapter 3: The complaint, from normal to pathological. Philosophical and scientific developments, complementing and directly connecting with the clinical reality, the normal and pathological, the average and the diverging, etc. q Chapter 4: The 4 forms of the prevention. Prolongation of the above-mentioned text, by defining the three classical forms of the prevention (primary at the “normal” stage, secondary at the pathological but pre-clinical stage and tertiary at the clinical stage), and by introducing the new concept of quaternary prevention, or protection of the population and the health system from the anguish of the care-receivers and givers. q Chapter 5: Criticism and auto-criticism of the principle of classification: Elaboration on the contradictory necessities of the homogeneity and completeness (thus of the respect of all the differences and specificities), and of the decrease and the treatment of the information (thus of the taking into account of the ranking and the categorizations). Block 2 : Political concepts q Chapter 6: The environmental problems relating to health. Report of a research aiming at elaborating an operational tool for the use of general practitioners, to help them become sensitive to environmental problems relating to health, to diagnose the most frequent and most important among those, and to take them over in a non-specialized manner. q Chapter 7: Hunger of work, end of health. From concrete numbers, demonstration of the link between morbidity/mortality and the socio-economical status. According to the times and locations, the epidemiological profiles are different but the same populations (low socio-economical position in the society, professional stress due to the hierarchy) are always found at the bottom of the ladders. q Chapter 8: Health education at the “Maison Médicale” of Forest. Report of 15 years of health education and promotion in a primary care health centre, from different angles (clinical, operational, conceptual, cultural etc.). q Chapters 9, 10, 11 and 12: First line health care; Synthesis and communication, or the basic functions of family medicine; “Martyr” proposition for the restructuring of the first line in Brussels; Establishment of a pilot ambulatory “emergency” center. Several orientation’s notes offering different theoretical models of care-providing systems, based on certain principles such as division into care levels, care networks, integration of the ambulatory and hospital, taking into account the specificities of large metropolises, of the problems related to the accessibility and to the emergencies. q Chapter 13: Local systems of health: a partial answer to the crisis of the health department in Belgium? Proposal, establishment and evaluation of small functional proximity units, consisting of intra- and extra-hospital care-givers, with the common goal of enhancing the quality of care, originating from real-life situations that have been problematic. q Chapter 14: Fixed financing by capitation: an alternative to the traditional fee for service payment? Review of the international literature about care financing systems in about twenty different countries. Demonstration of the limits and perversions of the integral fee for service payment. Proposal of a global financing system combining fee for service payment, fixed payment by capitation, target payment, structural payment, payment by the patient. q Chapter 15: Do solo practices provide less quality care? Criticisms and commentaries of a BMJ article on the topic. Attempt of an answer based on organizational, statistical and epidemiological elements. Block 3: Concepts related to clinical practice q Chapters 16 and 17: Quality insurance and the family doctor; Quality criteria: everybody speaks about it. Theoretical synthesis on quality insurance in primary care. Definition of the basic concepts: quality criteria, standards and objectives, methods, evaluation and indicators, limits and problems. q Chapter 18: Health system, information system and evaluation methods. Structuring the global medical record of general practitioners, positioning in the clinical and care-providing networks, use for the auto-evaluation, the formation, the scientific knowledge, the quality insurance and the political decision. q Chapter 19: ICPC, general concepts and developments. Construction of the International Classification of Primary Care, initial version. New classifying principles developed out of the limits of the ICD (International Classification of Diseases) of the WHO, used in hospital records. Contributions of the new (2nd) version, ICPC-2. Extension of the classification towards the thesaurus (LOCAS and TB3), through transcoding ICPC/ICD. q Chapter 20: Approach by problems and elements of the SOAP. Description of the approach by episodes (instead of the classical notion of diagnostics) and the analysis of relationship care-receiver/care-giver in the four dimensions (subjective, objective, appreciation and planning). q Chapter 21: Structuring of the electronic medical record: concepts and history. From the clinical notions of problems and SOAP, elaboration and clarification of a new model of computerized medical record, consisting of the relationship between 7 structuring elements (element of care, approach, contact, sub-contact, service, provider, time). This new model is the base for the label of Belgian electronic medical softwares. q Chapter 22: Applied casuistic. Application with pedagogical vocation of the former model, based on two exemplary clinical cases. q Chapter 23: The DUSOI/Wonca, a gravity index for the general practice. Tool developed by the Wonca to evaluate the gravity of a patient’s health status at a given moment in the course of his/her clinical evolution, evaluation both punctual and diachronic. Practical application to several real-life situations. q Chapter 24: Evaluation of the functional state: The COOP/Wonca cards. Tool also developed by the Wonca for the functional auto-evaluation of patients. It consists of a game of 6 cards graphically representing in a universal language the somatic, mental and social health state, both punctually and longitudinally, evaluated by the patient him/herself. q Chapter 25: Values, paradigms and research in general practice. Comparison of the fundamental concepts of the traditional research, the operational research and the action research. Relative interest of each of these research types for specific questions and situations, as well as for the use of quantitative and qualitative methods. q Chapter 26 and 27: The ICPC and the SOAP system, tools to well decide in uncertainty (application to the headache in family medicine); “Doctor, my knee hurts”, the view point of the general practitioner. Applications to the scientific knowledge and to the general practice of the different concepts developed in the previous chapters based on two frequent situations: the cephalalgia and the knee pains. q Chapters 28 and 29: Did you want statistics? Statistics “Maison Médicale Santé Plurielle 2003”. Method of analysis of the various data available in a primary care health centre, systematically collected in real-time during the clinical activity. Demonstration of its interest for the institution’s auto-evaluation, its coherent piloting, and the relationship with the politics. Numbers are numbers and only numbers. They have to be understood, contextualized, criticized, commented and made useful in their specific local situation, but also as part of a more global package of epidemiological data. q Chapter 30: The basic biological assessment, a useful exam? Critical definition evidence-based medicine of the routine screening biological exams. q Chapter 31: A project of “diabetic” quality insurance at the “Maison Médicale Santé Plurielle”. Report of the experience of a multidisciplinary insurance quality program in a primary care health centre. Operational definition of a series of indicators, evaluation of the latter before and after the program. Contributions and limits of the experience. and q Chapter 32 : Conclusion. Thirty-one chapters, it is a lot. And at the same time it is very little: general practice is carried out in a radically different context than it was less than 50 years ago. If it does not clearly redefine its role and tools, there is a risk for it to fall back to defensive and passeist positions which, even though they are necessary facing the increasing medicalization and specialization, are nevertheless not enough to explain its specificity and make it acknowledged. Let us remember that the latter resides essentially in complexity, since it consists of dealing with the human being at the individual level, in a bio-medical and psychodynamic approach, and at the collective level, in terms of public health, and by bringing in various disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, ethno-medicine. In the course of my practice, I felt the need to construct, outside of the bio-medical field which remains the essential reference at the level of the academic knowledge, specific tools allowing to increase the quality of primary care. The tools presented throughout this thesis have been elaborated through a constant back and forth between theory and practice, and according to a path crossing several disciplines. Some of these tools are conceptual, such as the transdisciplinarity and the quaternary prevention, others are methodological, such as the structure of the medical record, the SyloS, the classifications and the thesaurus, the logbook. All these tools are meant to mark out the approach of the general practitioner, to give him some theoretical and practical points of reference able to guide him in the complexity of the situations he encounters, the ultimate goal being to maintain a practice of quality respectful of the singularity of encountered stories and subjects. These specific tools have been tested in the field; they are currently used and integrated by general practitioners and other professionals of primary health care. Their feasibility and use to enhance the quality of care seemed therefore demonstrated, as well as some implantation difficulties, since it engages the care-providers in a reflexive approach, leading them to question the meaning and efficacy of their practices, to better evaluate them.

La démarche d'accréditation JACIE est une démarche volontaire à laquelle se soumettent des programmes de greffe de cellules souches hématopoïétiques (CSH), couvrant les trois activités partenaires (clinique, prélèvement de cellules et ingénierie cellulaire) et leurs interfaces. L'objectif est d'assurer un niveau minimal de qualité, de gestion des risques et d'harmonisation dans la mise en oeuvre des programmes de greffe de CSH en onco-hématologie. La construction et l'exploitation des indicateurs qualité doivent démontrer des progrès objectifs en matière de qualité et de sécurité des soins en retour des investissements consentis pour la mise en place de la démarche JACIE. Dans ce travail, nous proposons d'identifier et d'évaluer la pertinence des indicateurs mis en place dans le cadre de la démarche JACIE à mesurer des bénéfices tangibles (matériels et immatériels) tant pour les patients receveurs d'une greffe, que pour l'établissement de santé qui contribue à leur prise en charge. Pour cela, une enquête a été diffusée auprès de 82 centres accrédités JACIE en France puis dans les autres pays d'Europe. Dans le cadre de l'évaluation des soins pour laquelle la mis en place d'indicateurs est une approche de gestion des risques, nous avons cherché à déterminer si d'une part la construction des indicateurs dans les centres avait suivi une méthodologie de référence et d'autre part si tous les processus à risque de la greffe de CSH faisaient l'objet d'une surveillance / JACIE relies on transplant programs voluntarily applying for accreditation: it is important to understand that programs, rather than centres, apply meaning that all three infrastructures and teams (cell collection, cell processing and patient care unit) jointly engage in the accreditation process. The purpose of JACIE standards is to ensure a minimal level of quality, and harmonize laboratory and clinical practices in the field of onco-hematology. Implementation and follow-up of indicators do not necessarily reflect on quality and safety of patient care. The first aim of this study is to identify indicators set in place by the programs and to assess how their measure could be translated in qualitative benefit or quantitative benefit for the patient or the hospital. A survey was launched to 82 programs that were holding a valid accreditation, starting with French centres, and then extending to accredited programs in other European countries. Quality indicator is a tool for assessing healthcare delivery and indicator approach is commonly employed for risk management in healthcare systems. Thus, the second aim of this study is to understand whether a method was used to implement efficiently the indicators and to evaluate if all the HSCT processes are monitored