Quality management in home care: models for today's practice

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Quality Management in Healthcare
• Home Health Care Delivery

Background:

• Home care has undergone significant growth due to managed care and a shift to community-based services.
• Total Quality Management (TQM) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) principles are increasingly integrated into home health care.
• Key quality management tenets include focusing on systems, customer engagement, data, and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize current home care programs implementing quality management philosophies.
• To provide models for innovative quality management practices in home care.
• To highlight the integration of five key quality management areas into home care services.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing home care programs and quality management initiatives.
• Analysis of programs based on five core quality management principles.
• Synthesis of information from the home care and quality management literature.

Main Results:

• Home care providers are actively developing and implementing programs focused on quality management.
• Programs integrate systems thinking, customer focus, data utilization, and outcome measurement.
• Models for innovative quality management in home care are presented.

Conclusions:

• Home care is at the forefront of integrating quality management into service delivery.
• Adoption of TQM/CQI principles enhances the organization, administration, and practice of home health care.
• The discussed programs offer valuable insights into achieving high-quality home care.