Clinical indicators as a stimulus to QA in hospitals an early report

To increase medical staff involvement in hospital quality assurance activities and to increase the clinical component of a hospital accreditation process, the Australian Council on Health Standards (ACHS) through its Care Evaluation Program (CEP) has combined with the Medical Colleges, which are the professional associations for surgeons, internists, etc. Objective measures of care (clinical indicators) have been developed, and the first set (Hospital Wide Medical Indicators--HWMIs) was introduced into the Accreditation process from January 1993. Both quantitative and qualitative information is being received back by the Care Evaluation Program. The latter information reveals that the indicators have stimulated an increase in QA in hospitals.