Health Care Quality and Safety in a Correctional System: Creating Goals and Performance Measures for Improvement

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Healthcare Administration
• Correctional Healthcare

Background:

• The incarcerated population requires effective, data-driven quality improvement (QI) and patient safety strategies.
• Collaboration between correctional facilities and academic institutions can enhance healthcare delivery within prisons.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize a collaboration between the Illinois Department of Corrections and University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing (UIC Nursing).
• To outline the development of a quality improvement and patient safety plan for the state's correctional system.
• To highlight the need for data-driven QI in correctional healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Conducted an assessment and gap analysis to identify areas for improvement.
• Collaborated to establish a mission, vision, and a performance dashboard.
• Developed an initial set of performance measures for the dashboard.

Main Results:

• A collaborative framework was established between the Illinois Department of Corrections and UIC Nursing.
• A performance dashboard with key measures was created to guide QI efforts.
• The dashboard aims to focus improvement work on organizational priorities.

Conclusions:

• The developed performance dashboard serves as a tool to prioritize and focus quality improvement initiatives.
• Recommendations are provided for UIC Nursing's continued consultation on implementation and training.
• This partnership model can be adapted for enhancing healthcare in correctional settings.