Starting a Quality Management Program

Is reporting outcomes important?

Every practice should find a way to report on outcomes. This is very important as it will help with hospital joint commission requirements and the federal incentives in the years to come. There is no right way to do this. On our preferred vendors page you can find a list of vendors that can assist in the reporting.

When is the best time to collect data and what is the best way?

Some practices fill out a form at the time of the PACU drop-off, which is updated by the PACU nurses at PACU discharge. The form can be scanned into a digital system and linked to the patient’s billing at PACU discharge. Contact the company you are working with to see what the best way to go about collecting this data is. As a stopgap, you might inquire if your PACU nurses are already doing something like this on their own. If so, then collaborating with them might be the easiest way for both you and the hospital to get the needed data.

Should we record patient satisfaction data?

Patient satisfaction is very hot right now and highly recommended. Again if you look at our preferred vendors you can find solutions on this. Patient satisfaction data is incredibly useful for you and your hospital. If you get the hospital to buy in, using a vendor to collect data is a wonderful solution. Many small groups we know gather this information through PACU nurse phone calls. Though we do have a list of preferred vendors that are sending data to us currently, there are still other companies that are doing the same thing.

What companies should we pursue for data collection and submission?

Building OR and PACU quality capture forms into an AIMS system is a ongoing project. Though we do not tell practices what company to use, the AQI has relationships with a few existing vendors at this time. You can find these on the preferred vendors page. Check back with us periodically to see what options we have in place for this.

If you have questions on implementing a quality program please contact us.

Below are links that will help you in creating a Quality Management Program in your practice

Implementing an AIMS as Part of the Enterprise EHR

Quality Management in Your Practice
Basic instructions for creating an anesthesiology quality management program.

Quality Management in Your Practice: A Nuts & Bolts Primer (PPT)
Slides on starting a QM program.

Anesthesiology Department Quality Checklist
A compendium of questions to help anesthesiology departments develop a comprehensive set of quality standards. Questions are broken down for various roles including: chair of anesthesia, staff anesthesiologist, surgeon, perioperative nursing manager, operating room nurse, PACU nursing manager, obstetric nursing manager, quality management, administration, anesthesia technicians, CRNAs and AAs, and office based anesthesia facilities.

Quality Management and Departmental Administration (QMDA) Toolkit (ASA login required)
Non-members may purchase the toolkit here.

Toolkit includes information on the following topics:

  • 2014 Manual for Anesthesia Department Organization and Management (MADOM)
  • Anesthesia Consultation Program
  • ASA Standards, Guidelines and Statements
  • Sample Policy and Procedure Statements
  • Joint Commission
  • Joint Commission FAQs
  • Further Reading on SEA 32 and Unintended Awareness During Anesthesia
  • Educational Materials for Non-Anesthesiologists
  • Quality Management Software System