Improving patient discharge and reducing hospital readmissions by using Intervention Mapping.

Background: There is a growing impetus to reorganize the hospital discharge process to reduce avoidable readmissions and costs. The aim of this study was to provide insight into hospital discharge problems and underlying causes, and to give an overview of solutions that guide providers and policy-makers in improving hospital discharge.

Methods: The Intervention Mapping framework was used.

Deepening our understanding of quality improvement in Europe (DUQuE): overview of a study of hospital quality management in seven countries.

Introduction And Objective: This paper provides an overview of the DUQuE (Deepening our Understanding of Quality Improvement in Europe) project, the first study across multiple countries of the European Union (EU) to assess relationships between quality management and patient outcomes at EU level. The paper describes the conceptual framework and methods applied, highlighting the novel features of this study.

Design: DUQuE was designed as a multi-level cross-sectional study with data collection at hospital, pathway, professional and patient level in eight countries.

The effect of certification and accreditation on quality management in 4 clinical services in 73 European hospitals.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between ISO 9001 certification, healthcare accreditation and quality management in European hospitals.

Design: A mixed method multi-level cross-sectional design in seven countries. External teams assessed clinical services on the use of quality management systems, illustrated by four clinical pathways.

Evidence-based organization and patient safety strategies in European hospitals.

Objective: To explore how European hospitals have implemented patient safety strategies (PSS) and evidence-based organization of care pathway (EBOP) recommendations and examine the extent to which implementation varies between countries and hospitals.

Design: Mixed-method multilevel cross-sectional design in seven countries as part of the European Union-funded project 'Deepening our Understanding of Quality improvement in Europe' (DUQuE).

Setting And Participants: Seventy-four acute care hospitals with 292 departments managing acute myocardial infarction (AMI), hip fracture, stroke, and obstetric deliveries.

Sustainable healthcare accreditation: messages from Europe in 2009.

Background: Healthcare accreditation has grown rapidly since the 1980s but critics question the value of accreditation rather than certification or inspection. Research has focused more on evidence of impact on provider institutions than on health systems; little has been published on the determinants of growth or decline of accreditation organizations and programmes.

Objective: To describe the development of national accreditation organizations in Europe in relation to incentives, funding and market position in 2009; to identify trends over time using data from previous surveys.

Towards hospital standardization in Europe.

Quality Problem: There is no simple tool to assess compliance with common national and European directives, guidance and professional advice on the management of healthcare institutions. Despite evidence of unacceptable variations in the protection of patient and staff safety little attention has been given to harmonizing the way services are organized and managed.

Initial Assessment: Existing systems which define organizational standards, or assess compliance with them, are not in a position to extend this activity into or across national borders in Europe.