Disentangling quality and safety indicator data: a longitudinal, comparative study of hand hygiene compliance and accreditation outcomes in 96 Australian hospitals

Determinants of regulatory compliance in health and social care services: A systematic review using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research

BACKGROUND

The delivery of high quality care is a fundamental goal for health systems worldwide. One policy tool to ensure quality is the regulation of services by an independent public authority. This systematic review seeks to identify determinants of compliance with such regulation in health and social care services.

METHODS

Searches were carried out on five electronic databases and grey literature sources. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies were eligible for inclusion. Titles and abstracts were screened by two reviewers independently. Determinants were identified from the included studies, extracted and allocated to constructs in the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). The quality of included studies was appraised by two reviewers independently. The results were synthesised in a narrative review using the constructs of the CFIR as grouping themes.

RESULTS

The search yielded 7,500 articles for screening, of which 157 were included. Most studies were quantitative designs in nursing home settings and were conducted in the United States. Determinants were largely structural in nature and allocated most frequently to the inner and outer setting domains of the CFIR. The following structural characteristics and compliance were found to be positively associated: smaller facilities (measured by bed capacity); higher nurse-staffing levels; and lower staff turnover. A facility's geographic location and compliance was also associated. It was difficult to make findings in respect of process determinants as qualitative studies were sparse, limiting investigation of the processes underlying regulatory compliance.

CONCLUSION

The literature in this field has focused to date on structural attributes of compliant providers, perhaps because these are easier to measure, and has neglected more complex processes around the implementation of regulatory standards. A number of gaps, particularly in terms of qualitative work, are evident in the literature and further research in this area is needed to provide a clearer picture.

The impact of hospital accreditation on the quality of healthcare: a systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Accreditation is viewed as a reputable tool to evaluate and enhance the quality of health care. However, its effect on performance and outcomes remains unclear. This review aimed to identify and analyze the evidence on the impact of hospital accreditation.

METHODS

We systematically searched electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, MEDLINE (OvidSP), CDSR, CENTRAL, ScienceDirect, SSCI, RSCI, SciELO, and KCI) and other sources using relevant subject headings. We included peer-reviewed quantitative studies published over the last two decades, irrespective of its design or language. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, two reviewers independently screened initially identified articles, reviewed the full-text of potentially relevant studies, extracted necessary data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies using a validated tool. The accreditation effects were synthesized and categorized thematically into six impact themes.

RESULTS

We screened a total of 17,830 studies, of which 76 empirical studies that examined the impact of accreditation met our inclusion criteria. These studies were methodologically heterogeneous. Apart from the effect of accreditation on healthcare workers and particularly on job stress, our results indicate a consistent positive effect of hospital accreditation on safety culture, process-related performance measures, efficiency, and the patient length of stay, whereas employee satisfaction, patient satisfaction and experience, and 30-day hospital readmission rate were found to be unrelated to accreditation. Paradoxical results regarding the impact of accreditation on mortality rate and healthcare-associated infections hampered drawing firm conclusions on these outcome measures.

CONCLUSION

There is reasonable evidence to support the notion that compliance with accreditation standards has multiple plausible benefits in improving the performance in the hospital setting. Despite inconclusive evidence on causality, introducing hospital accreditation schemes stimulates performance improvement and patient safety. Efforts to incentivize and modernize accreditation are recommended to move towards institutionalization and sustaining the performance gains. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020167863.

Albuminuria measurement in diabetic care: a multilevel analysis measuring the influence of accreditation on institutional performance

Background

Studies assessing institutional performance regarding quality of care are frequently performed using single-level statistical analyses investigating differences between provider averages of various quality indicators. However, such analyses are insufficient as they do not consider patients’ heterogeneity around those averages. Hence, we apply a multilevel analysis of individual-patient heterogeneity that distinguishes between ‘general’ (‘latent quality’ or measures of variance) and ‘specific’ (measures of association) contextual effects. We assess general contextual effects of the hospital departments and the specific contextual effect of a national accreditation programme on adherence to the standard benchmark for albuminuria measurement in Danish patients with diabetes.

Methods

From the Danish Adult Diabetes Database, we extracted data on 137 893 patient cases admitted to hospitals between 2010 and 2013. Applying multilevel logistic and probit regression models for every year, we quantified general contextual effects of hospital department by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values. We evaluated the specific effect of hospital accreditation using the ORs and the change in the department variance.

Results

In 2010, the department context had considerable influence on adherence with albuminuria measurement (ICC=21.8%, AUC=0.770), but the general effect attenuated along with the implementation of the national accreditation programme. The ICC value was 16.5% in 2013 and the rate of compliance with albuminuria measurement increased from 91.6% in 2010 to 96% in 2013.

Conclusions

Parallel to implementation of the national accreditation programme, departments’ compliance with the standard benchmark for albuminuria measurement increased and the ICC values decreased, but remained high. While those results indicate an overall quality improvement, further intervention focusing on departments with the lowest compliance could be considered.

Does hospital ownership influence hand hygiene compliance?

The issue as to whether hospital ownership has an impact on the quality of care has long been a serious concern. Hand hygiene (HH) compliance is regarded as an important indicator of the quality of care in the control of hospital-acquired infections. However, little information is available on whether hospital ownership influences HH compliance. In this study, of 229 hospitals selected from Hubei province in China, 152 were public and 77 were private hospitals. A total of 23 652 healthcare workers (HCWs) were surveyed, using a convenience sampling. HH compliance, the WHO's "My Five Moments for hand hygiene" (5MHH), among HCWs, together with the factors of hospital ownership, training frequency, bed occupancy rates, etc. were collected. Univariate analysis and ordinal logistic regression analysis were used to analyze factors affecting HH compliance. Overall, HH compliance rates were 67% and 79% for public and private hospitals, respectively. The HH compliance rates of HCWs and 5MHH were between 55% and 95%, and influenced by hospital ownership (P<0.05), excluding compliance rate at the moment after body fluid exposure, and other influence factors included training frequency and bed occupancy rate (P<0.05). HH compliance is better in private than in public hospitals. Hospital ownership is a significant factor affecting HH compliance, in addition to training frequency and bed occupancy rate.

Development and application of an indicator assessment tool for measuring health services accreditation programs

Background

Hospital accreditation programs are internationally widespread and consume increasingly scarce health resources. However, we lack tools to consistently identify suitable indicators to assess and monitor accreditation outcomes. We describe the development and validation of such a tool.

Results

Using Australian accreditation standards as our reference point we: reviewed the research evidence for potential indicators; looked for links with existing external indicators; and assessed relevant state and federal policies. We allocated provisional scores, on a five point Likert scale, to the five accountability criteria in the tool: research; accuracy; proximity; no adverse effects; and specificity. An expert panel validated the use of the purpose designed indicator assessment tool. The panel identified hand hygiene compliance rates as a suitable process indicator, and hospital acquired Staphylococcus aureus infection (SAB) rates as an outcome indicator, with the hypothesis that improved hand hygiene compliance rates and lower SAB rates would correlate with accreditation performance.

Conclusions

This new tool can be used to identify, analyse, and compare accreditation indicators. Using infection control indicators such as hand hygiene compliance and SAB rates to measure accreditation effectiveness has merit, and their efficacy can be determined by comparing accreditation scores with indicator outcomes. To verify the tool as a robust instrument, testing is needed in other health service domains, both in Australia and internationally. This tool provides health policy makers with an important means for assessing the accreditation programs which form a critical part of the national patient safety and quality framework.