Key result
Clinical indicators serve as quantitative screens or flags to monitor and evaluate the quality of patient care, directing attention to specific performance issues requiring more intense review.
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May flag care quality issues for review in hospitals; leaves open prospective validation of indicator thresholds and outcomes.
The standards set by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (ICAHO) and published annually in the Accrediting Manual for Hospitals (AMH) define the framework within which most hospitals conduct their quality assurance (QA) and utilization review (UR) activities. The process known as “monitoring and evaluation,” reviewed here in May, forms a central component of many of these standards. The monitoring and evaluation process, in turn, depends on the identification of “clinical indicators.” The JCAHO has stated that a clinical indicator is “a quantitative measure that can be used as a guide to monitor and evaluate the quality of important patient care and support service activities. An indicator is not a direct measure of quality. Rather, it is a screen or flag that identifies or directs attention to specific performance issues that should be the subject of more intense review”.
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Michael D. Decker (1991) reported a review. Clinical indicators serve as quantitative screens or flags to monitor and evaluate the quality of patient care, directing attention to specific performance issues requiring more intense review.
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