The National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program started on 1 July 2019. It requires residential aged care providers to collect data and report quarterly on the following quality indicators:
To help providers comply with their obligations, the Department of Health has provided a three-part manual on its website.
Part A of the Program Manual includes definitions of each quality indicator and how to collect and submit quality indicator data.
Part C includes information for approved providers to access and use the QI Application in the My Aged Care provider portal as well as submit quality indicator data and access QI Program reports.
In this article we will look at the Part B of the Program Manual which aims to help providers “improve quality of care through continuous quality improvement.” Here are the key points from Part B of the manual.
Program Manual B’s purpose is to help providers understand how they can support continuous quality improvement for each of the quality indicators.
To this end, Program Manual B explains what “quality improvement” is and how to undertake it. It also:
“Quality” is described as care that is “effective and safe, and provides a positive experience by being caring, responsive and person centred.” (Program Manual B, p. 3).
An important part of providing “quality” care is quality improvement which is “a systematic, co-ordinated and ongoing effort to improve the quality of care and services.” (Program Manual B, p. 3).
Overall quality improvement is about identifying what systems are working well, the quality of care and services being provided and to understand where we could do better and improve outcomes for consumers. Throughout the quality improvement process three key areas need to be considered in respect to change:
How do you make quality improvement possible?
There are six steps to enabling quality improvement:
The Program Manual proposes a “Plan-Do-Check-Act” tool which can be used across each quality indicator (Program Manual B, p. 6).
This method allows you to identify a “quality issue” and then trial a “quality improvement activity” to gauge whether the activity should be implemented more broadly.
A summary of the tool and its four steps is set out in the table below.
STEP 1: PLAN | Involves developing a plan by gathering information about what is causing the quality issue, establishing goals for your quality improvement activity, and making a plan for how the activity will be carried out. |
STEP 2: DO | This is where you carry out the activity by allocating resources, testing the activity on a small scale and documenting observations. |
STEP 3: CHECK | Involves collecting data and analysing information from the QI program to understand if your current systems and related processes are achieving the desired outcomes. |
STEP 4: ACT |
This step involves deciding whether the current systems and related processes are successful in achieving quality of care and services. Depending on the outcome you will:
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Quality improvement is an ongoing process. This means that you should regularly repeat the quality improvement process to continually improve the care and services you deliver (Program Manual B, p. 5).
By regularly undertaking quality improvement, you will:
Unlike Part A of the Program Manual, Part B is not legislatively binding.
However, it is still important to consult the Program Manual to help you improve the quality of care and services you provide to consumers as well as drive quality improvement within your organisation.