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Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Indicators

 

Healthcare quality is a core dimension of health system performance. Quality in healthcare means that the care provided is:

  • Effective: achieving desirable outcomes, given the correct provision of evidence-based healthcare services to all who could benefit, but not to those who would not benefit
  • Safe: reducing harm caused in the delivery of healthcare processes
  • Patient-centred: placing the patient/user at the centre of its delivery of healthcare

DATA

In 2021, the OECD HCQO data collection process included a total of 64 indicators covering the following ‘themes’: Primary Care, Safe Prescribing in Primary Care, Acute Care, Mental Healthcare, Cancer Care, Patient Safety, and Patient Experiences. The collection reports data from 40 countries, including non-OECD member countries such as Singapore, Malta and Romania.

Health at a Glance 2023 also includes the first OECD reporting of quality indicators to capture:

  • Integrated care
  • End-of-life care
  • Patient safety from the perspective of patients and healthcare workers
  • Patient experience of care specific for patient receiving mental healthcare services

All indicators are available in the OECD Health Statistics database in the Healthcare Quality Indicators dataset in OECD.Stat:

Healthcare Quality Indicators (full dataset) Primary Care
Prescribing in Primary Care Acute Care
Mental Healthcare Patient Safety
Patient Experiences Cancer Care

Data and information on quality indicators for communicable diseases (screening and immunisation), cancer (screening and mortality) along with various other indicators related to lifestyle and prevention can be found:

OECD Framework for Health System Performance Measurement

HCSPM_Framework


The Healthcare Quality and Outcomes programme previous known as Healthcare Quality Indicators (HCQI) Project was initiated in 2001. The aim was to develop and report indicators for international comparisons of healthcare quality. Over the past twenty years, data collection and analysis have been carried out, progressively expanding the coverage of the dimensions within the framework above and the number of countries involved. A continuous dialogue occurs between the OECD secretariat and a representative group of experts from OECD and non-OECD countries, international organisations including the World Health Organization and the European Commission and other relevant collaborating institutions, including universities, subject matter experts and research organisations.

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