The AAWC conceptual framework of quality systems for wound care.

When the Association for Advanced Wound Care Quality of Care Task Force members determined there was no unanimously accepted definition of quality as it relates to wound care, they: 1) identified relevant components of quality wound care, and 2) created a framework of quality wound care indicators to enable the creation or assessment of wound care delivery systems. The framework is an innovative conceptual model that serves as a basis for the Association strategies to facilitate high quality wound care for patients/clients across the continuum of care and recognizes the role of the supporting systems necessary to provide wound care services. It uses the Institute of Medicine's Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century to define quality systems for wound care and includes safety and effectiveness coupled with the delivery of timely, efficient, equitable, collaborative, patient-centered care. This framework can be utilized during clinical, managerial, or regulatory review of wound care service delivery.