Further Evidence of Feasibility, Validity, and Reliability of Quality of Life-Aged Care Consumers: Evidence From Home-Based Care Settings.

Objectives: The Quality of Life-Aged Care Consumers (QOL-ACC) is an aged-care-specific preference-based instrument currently being rolled out in residential care across Australia as part of the aged care Quality Indicator program. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility, reliability, and construct validity of the QOL-ACC in a large national sample of older adults receiving aged care services at home.

Methods: Older adults receiving in-home aged care services completed a survey including the QOL-ACC, Quality of Care Experience-ACC, adult social care outcome tool, EQ-5D-5L, and 2 global single item measures of health and quality of life.

Health system frameworks and performance indicators in eight countries: A comparative international analysis.

Objectives: Performance indicators are a popular mechanism for measuring the quality of healthcare to facilitate both quality improvement and systems management. Few studies make comparative assessments of different countries' performance indicator frameworks. This study identifies and compares frameworks and performance indicators used in selected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development health systems to measure and report on the performance of healthcare organisations and local health systems.

CareTrack: Toward Appropriate Care for Low Back Pain.

Study Design: Retrospective medical record review to assess compliance with low back pain (LBP) care indicators.

Objective: To establish baseline estimates of the appropriateness of LBP care in the general Australian population provided by a range of healthcare providers in various real-world settings.

Summary Of Background Data: LBP is a costly condition and accounts for the greatest burden of disease worldwide, yet the care provided is often at variance with guidelines.

Assessing the appropriateness of prevention and management of venous thromboembolism in Australia: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The prevention and management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is often at variance with guidelines. The CareTrack Australia (CTA) study reported that appropriate care (in line with evidence-based or consensus-based guidelines) is being provided for VTE at just over half of eligible encounters. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the detailed CTA findings for VTE as a baseline for compliance with guidelines at a population level.

Patient safety problems from healthcare information technology in medical imaging.

Health information technology (HIT) systems have been deployed extensively by healthcare organizations and promoted as a panacea to many of the challenges faced by medical imaging departments, particularly with respect to workflow, efficiency and diagnostic accuracy. This report describes how inadequate planning, integration, training and testing of HIT can impact on patient safety and result in patient harm.