Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 3, 2026
Treatment of Ankle Osteoarthritis with Total Ankle Replacement Through a Lateral Transfibular Approach
Published on: January 24, 2018
Quality Measures in Foot and Ankle Care
Grace Xiong1, Chase G Bennett, Loretta Chou
1From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Redwood City, CA.
Background:
Quality measures may be operationalized in payment models or quality reporting programs to assess foot and ankle surgeons, but if existing measures allow accurate representation of a foot and ankle surgeon's practice is unclear.
Methods:
National quality measures databases, clinical guidelines, and MEDLINE/PubMed were systematically reviewed for quality measures relevant to foot and ankle care. Measures meeting internal criteria were categorized by clinical diagnosis, National Quality Strategy priority, and Donabedian domain.
Results:
Of 12 quality measures and 16 candidate measures, National Quality Strategy priorities most commonly addressed "Effective Clinical Care" (n = 19) and "Communication and Coordination of Care" (n = 6). Donabedian classifications addressed were process (n = 25) and outcome (n = 3). Diabetic foot care was most commonly addressed (n = 18).
Conclusions:
Available foot and ankle quality measures are limited in number and scope, which may hinder appropriate assessment of care, analysis of trends, and quality improvement. Additional measures are needed to support the transition to a value-based system.
Level Of Evidence:
Level I.
Related Concept Videos
01:10Ankle Joint
01:28Muscles of the Leg that Move the Foot and Toes
Anterior Compartment
The anterior compartment includes muscles that contribute to the dorsiflexion of the foot. This compartment houses the tibialis anterior, extensor hallucis longus, and extensor digitorum longus muscles....
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:05Quality Control
Quality control helps track data, visualize trends, and identify variations, making it easier to detect deviations that may affect the accuracy of an analysis. One way to do this is by generating a quality control chart, which...
01:19Quality Assurance