Health Care Quality Indicators in the Irish Health System: Examining the Potential of Hospital Discharge Data using the Hospital Inpatient Enquiry System

摘要

A quality health service provides the range of services which meet the most important health needs of its population in a safe and effective way, without waste and within the regulatory framework.udMonitoring the performance of health services in meeting their objectives is important in supporting and strengthening accountability and in improving the quality and safety of the services. Information, including performance indicators, can be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and safety of services, to identify areas of performance which may require further exploration and action and to inform decisions about the planning, design and delivery of services.udThe purpose of this report is to propose and examine a number of key quality indicators derived from Hospital Inpatient Enquiry (HIPE) data in order to assess their feasibility in monitoring quality of care and measuring health service performance. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) manages the HIPE system on behalf of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and provides support and training to the hospitals and the coders in the hospitals.1