European practice assessment

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The European Practice Assessment (EPA) is a quality management system that supports a continuous quality process in medical practices. It is designed to take into account the specific working methods of general practitioners and to understand the practice as a "learning system". EPA is a process-oriented, Demingkreis -oriented quality management system especially for general practitioners and, in contrast to other systems, is not based on a quality management manual , but on indicators . These indicators are measurable quantities that allow to characterize an actual situation and to formulate a desired goal.

Emergence

The original core of the European Practice Assessment is a collection of indicators and instruments that are intended to describe the essential quality-relevant properties of a private practice. These were created in a development and validation process lasting several years (2000–2005) in collaboration with various medical faculties and practitioners.

The international cooperation in the development phase was supported by the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh. After the first version of the indicators was published, the developers joined forces in the “TOPAS-Europe Association” to update the indicators and instruments on a regular basis. In addition, research projects are to be initiated on the basis of the system in order to measure the effectiveness of quality-enhancing interventions and the significance of the health policy framework.

Practical implementation

The context of implementation differs in the individual countries: while the EPA indicators and instruments are used in the Netherlands as part of the re-accreditation system for general practitioners, in Germany they are used as part of a quality management system for general practitioners' practices. To this end, the AQUA Institute GmbH, which is responsible for implementation in Germany, has developed additional elements (online benchmarking, workshops, implementation aids) that help to use the EPA indicators for the establishment of an institution's internal quality management system.

EPA International

Under the direction of R. Grol (WOK, NL), the following institutions participated in the research and development within the framework of the European Practice Assessment Study (EPA):

  • ANAES, Paris (F)
  • AQUA Institute on Applied Quality Improvement and Research in Health Care, Göttingen (D)
  • Center for Quality of Care Research (WOK), University of Nijmegen / University Maastricht (NL)
  • Department of Gen. Pract., University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff (UK)
  • Flemish Institute of General Practice WWVH, Antwerp (B)
  • National Primary Care Research and Development Center NPCRDC, Manchester (UK)
  • swisspep Institute for Quality and Research in Healthcare, Bern (CH)

literature

  • R. Grol, M. Dautzenberg, H. Brinkmann: Quality Management in Primary Care. European Practice Assessment. Bertelsmann Stiftung publishing house, Gütersloh 2004, ISBN 3-89204-790-1 .
  • FM Gerlach: Quality promotion in practice and clinic; An opportunity for medicine. Thieme-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-13-125891-8 .
  • O. Bahrs, FM Gerlach, J. Szecsenyi, E. Andres (eds.): Medical quality circles. Guide for the doctor in practice and clinic. 4th revised and expanded edition. German Ärzteverlag, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-7691-0340-8 .
  • J. Bensing, U. Sätterlund-Larsson, J. Szecsenyi (eds.): Doctor-patient-communication and the quality of care in general practice. Netherlands Institute of Primary Health Care (NIVEL), Utrecht 1998.
  • J. Szecsenyi, FM Gerlach (Ed.): Status and future of quality assurance in general medicine. National and international perspectives. Hippokrates Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-7773-1199-5 .

Other quality management systems

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