Quality Assessment and Quality Assurance of Pharmacy Services

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To review the concept of quality, the processes of quality assurance, and the methods of quality assessment as they relate to the delivery of pharmaceutical services. DATA SOURCES: Recent management and pharmacy literature. STUDY SELECTION: Not applicable. DATA EXTRACTION: Not applicable. DATA SYNTHESIS: Quality implies value, worth, and degree of excellence. The structure-process-outcome paradigm of Donabedian is an often applied measure of quality. Quality assurance (QA) is the process by which we ensure that services are appropriate, effective, and efficient. Examples of QA programs in pharmacy are those of the performance indicators of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, criteria used in drug-use evaluations, disease-specific profiles used in disease management, and profiling of provider care systems using instruments such as the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS, now in version 2.0). CONCLUSION: The next few years will witness much experimentation in QA processes and exciting new opportunities for pharmacists as more active participants in patient care.