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Suggested Citation:"Glossary." Institute of Medicine. 2001. Envisioning the National Health Care Quality Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10073.
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Glossary

Component of health care quality: refers to one of the attributes of health care quality, namely, safety, effectiveness, patient centeredness, and timeliness.

Conceptual framework: explains, either graphically or in narrative form, the main areas to be studied—the key factors, constructs, or variables—and the presumed relationships among them. Frameworks can be rudimentary or elaborate, theory driven or commonsensical, and descriptive or causal (Miles and Huberman, 1994:18).

Consumer perspectives on health care needs: refers to various reasons people seek health care at different points in the life cycle, namely, to stay healthy, get better, live with illness or disability, or cope with the end of life. Also referred to as consumer needs for health care.

Coping with the end of life: refers to getting help to deal with a terminal illness (adapted from Foundation for Accountability, 1997).

Effectiveness: refers to providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit (avoiding overuse and underuse) (Institute of Medicine, 2001).

Efficiency: avoiding waste, including waste of equipment, supplies, ideas, and energy (Institute of Medicine, 2001).

Equity: refers to providing care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status (Institute of Medicine, 2001).

Suggested Citation:"Glossary." Institute of Medicine. 2001. Envisioning the National Health Care Quality Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10073.
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Page 224

Getting better: means getting help to recover from an illness or injury (Foundation for Accountability, 1997).

Living with illness or disability: means being able to get help in managing an ongoing, chronic condition or in dealing with a disability that affects function (adapted from Foundation for Accountability, 1997).

Measure: a standard of dimension; a fixed unit of quantity or extent; an extent or quantity in the fractions or multiples of which anything is estimated and stated; hence, a rule by which anything is adjusted or judged (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913).

Patient centeredness: refers to health care that establishes a partnership among practitioners, patients, and their families (when appropriate) to ensure that decisions respect patients' wants, needs, and preferences and that patients have the education and support they need to make decisions and participate in their own care.

Quality of care: the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge (Institute of Medicine, 1990:21).

Safety: refers to avoiding injuries to patients from care that is intended to help them (Institute of Medicine, 2001).

Staying healthy: means getting help to avoid illness and to remain well (Foundation for Accountability, 1997).

Timeliness: refers to obtaining needed care and minimizing unnecessary delays in getting that care.

REFERENCES

Foundation for Accountability. 1997. Reporting Quality Information to Consumers , Portland, Ore.: FACCT.

Institute of Medicine. 1990. Medicare: A Strategy for Quality Assurance, Vol. 2. ed. Kathleen Lohr. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Institute of Medicine. 2001. Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Miles, Matthew B., and A. Michael Huberman. 1994. Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. 1913 ed. Springfield, Mass.: G.C. Merriam Co.

Suggested Citation:"Glossary." Institute of Medicine. 2001. Envisioning the National Health Care Quality Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10073.
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Page 223
Suggested Citation:"Glossary." Institute of Medicine. 2001. Envisioning the National Health Care Quality Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10073.
×
Page 224
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How good is the quality of health care in the United States? Is quality improving? Or is it suffering? While the average person on the street can follow the state of the economy with economic indicators, we do not have a tool that allows us to track trends in health care quality. Beginning in 2003, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will produce an annual report on the national trends in the quality of health care delivery in the United States. AHRQ commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to help develop a vision for this report that will allow national and state policy makers, providers, consumers, and the public at large to track trends in health care quality. Envisioning the National Health Care Quality Report offers a framework for health care quality, specific examples of the types of measures that should be included in the report, suggestions on the criteria for selecting measures, as well as advice on reaching the intended audiences. Its recommendations could help the national health care quality report to become a mainstay of our nation's effort to improve health care.

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