FAQ – Quality Scores
Which results are published in IQM? Where and by whom?
Once a year, all IQM member hospitals publish their own G-IQI results on their websites. The IQM website publishes only the average results of all IQM hospitals. Links are provided to the results of the individual members.
What effects does publishing the results of quality indicators have on hospital procedures?
Publishing a hospital’s quality scores – even and especially those that need improvement – signals to patients, referring physicians and the public that the hospital handles its outcomes in a transparent manner. Publishing good results provides motivation to continue improving them. Publishing problematic results creates a healthy pressure on the hospital organisation to analyse the causes and, if necessary, make changes.
Why is it a good idea to make the measured quality scores accessible to everyone?
Patients, next of kin and referring physicians use the quality scores to help choose a hospital. Publishing the G-IQIs is an important step towards making objective data available to a large public and is fundamental to ensuring that clinics compete to offer the best medical outcomes.
Why is it important to communicate the quality indicators internally?
Internal transparency within a hospital means making the results of the G-IQIs available to managers, medical experts and a large section of the employees. Regularly presenting the results internally is the first step towards agreeing on concrete quality targets for analysing weaknesses across occupational groups and departments and fostering an open discussion about the improvements to be made.