Auditing headache care

摘要

The ultimate goal of headache care is to improve the lives of headache sufferers. Care delivery systems, in general, strive for accessibility and effectiveness while balancing cost. Following the adage, 'What's measured, improves,' the development and standardization of measures of headache care and its delivery should lead to innovative quality improvement initiatives. There is a need for both health care providers and stakeholders to promote public commitment to high-quality care in headache medicine, and auditing of performance provides the foundation for achieving excellence. Prototype of a standardized quality care programme In the United States in 2002, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations launched the Disease-Specific Care Certification Program. The programme is designed to evaluate chronic disease management and chronic care services that are provided by direct care providers as well as by health plans. The Disease-Specific Care Certification Program requires demonstration of outcomes of care and use of data for quality improvement. The largest project in the Disease-Specific Care Program is the certification of primary stroke centres. The performance measures, chosen to improve and standardize stroke care, are based on recommendations of the Brain Attack Coalition (BAC) and the guidelines of the American Heart Association (AHA). The BAG, comprising members belonging to several professional medical societies, investigated factors and elements that are associated with better clinical outcome after stroke, based on the scientific literature. Recommendations were made based on consensus, incorporating consideration of the logistics of delivery of care, and cost-effectiveness.