The challenges of measuring quality-of-care indicators in rural emergency departments: a cross-sectional descriptive study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Evidence-based indicators of quality of care have been developed to improve care and performance in Canadian emergency departments. The feasibility of measuring these indicators has been assessed mainly in urban and academic emergency departments. We sought to assess the feasibility of measuring quality-of-care indicators in rural emergency departments in Quebec.

Methods

We previously identified rural emergency departments in Quebec that offered medical coverage with hospital beds 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and were located in rural areas or small towns as defined by Statistics Canada. A standardized protocol was sent to each emergency department to collect data on 27 validated quality-of-care indicators in 8 categories: duration of stay, patient safety, pain m

SUBMITTER: Layani G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5047798 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature