Patient education and the quality assurance process

As these three examples suggest, the QA conference at East Tennessee Children's Hospital is an excellent mechanism by which relevant patient education activities can be incorporated into the routine medical management of many patient groups. In this regard, many physicians respond better to the recommendations of their peers than to requests from patient education coordinators, nurses, or others who need physicians' approval and support in providing consistent patient education services. Although most of the medical staff at East Tennessee Children's Hospital readily offer such support, the cooperation of the child life department with the QA conference has helped to identify clearly the important role of patient education in a comprehensive approach to the QA process.