Quality Assurance Indicators Research Articles

Quality management in radiotherapy: A 9-year review of incident reporting within a multifacility organisation

Background: A radiotherapy incident reporting system should (1) record and classify incidents, (2) assess the impact of incidents on patients in terms of dose errors and (3) identify areas of improvement in the incident reporting system. Such a system at the Independent Clinical Oncology Network (ICON) Oncology is investigated.Aim: An ‘incident’ is defined by ICON as ‘any occurrence that may prevent the patient from receiving the prescribed dose in the prescribed time period or may cause unplanned harm to the patient or may infringe upon the patient’s rights’.Setting: Incidents reported between December 2011 and December 2020.Methods: Incidents were analysed looking at various factors such as institutional timelines compared with major projects, incident error and areas, reporting frequencies amongst tumour-sites and professional groups.Results: Over the course of 9-years, 78 521 patients were treated at ICON’s centres and a total of 924 reports were filed involving 1355 patients. This shows an incident rate of 1.7% of all patients in radiotherapy. The difference in incident number versus patients is because one incident may involve many patients. Reporting amongst professional groups has more distinctive differences, with 86.0%, 11.6% and 2.4% reported cases per annum for radiotherapists, physicist and oncologist, respectively. For the errors in dose-delivery, 43.0% of the incidents were discovered with no dosimetric or clinical consequence, 53.6% with dosimetric consequence but no clinical consequence and 3.4% with dosimetric and clinical consequence.Conclusion: Incident reporting is not a new quality assurance (QA) indicator for radiotherapy treatment. However, it requires continuous effort and innovation to uphold and maintain a high standard of patient and staff safety within an organisation. Errors are present during every stage of the radiotherapy process, whether it be human, technical, organisational or patient related. From the statistics of all the patients treated at ICON, 0.04% have been reported to have had an associated incident that involved some form of clinical consequence. Yet, if undetected, the incident could lead to increase in dose errors to patients.

Association of Structural Variables with Quality of Care in German Hospitals

The Hospital sector in Germany is undergoing uncoordinated structural changes for financial reasons. At the same time, quality-oriented control measures are used to ensure and improve the quality of treatment. It is unclear whether the right structures, namely those that guarantee positive results, will be maintained. Investigation of the association between different structural hospital characteristics with quality of care. In a secondary data analysis, the association of quality of care and the structural characteristics of hospital size, type of ownership, region, teaching status and case mix index (CMI) were compared based on hospital quality reports. Quality indices were calculated for each hospital using selected quality indicators of external quality assurance (eQA). First, the associations were examined univariately using the Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test and then using multiple linear regression analysis, taking into account the interaction effects of the independent variables. About 90% of the indices examined showed significant associations between structural hospital characteristics and the quality of care. Positive associations with the quality of care were found in the structural characteristics of hospital size of less than 100 beds, private ownership, no teaching hospital and a low CMI. Negative associations were observed in the structural variables hospital size more than 500 beds, public ownership, teaching-status and higher CMI. According to the results of this study, small hospitals seem to provide the best quality of care. This counterintuitive result suggests that the examined eQA quality indicators used in the index calculation may not be sufficiently risk-adjusted or scientifically evaluated, and their use as quality management tools is not recommended.

Comparison of antemortem clinical diagnosis and post-mortem findings in intensive care unit patients

Autopsy is an important quality assurance indicator and a tool to advance medical knowledge. This study aims to compare the premortem clinical and postmortem pathology findings in patients who died in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), to analyze if there are any discrepancies between them, and to compare the results to two similar studies performed in our institution in 2004 and 2007. Between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2018, 888 patients died in the ICU and 473 underwent post-mortem examination (PME) of whom 437 were included in the present study. Autopsies revealed discrepancies between clinical diagnosis and pathologic findings according to in 101 cases (23.1%) according to Goldman classification. Forty-eight major discrepancies (class I and class II) were identified in 44 cases and the most frequent identified discrepancies were pulmonary embolism (3/12) as class I and malignancies (13/35) as class II. They were more frequent in patients hospitalized for less than 10 days then in the group with more than 10 days of hospitalization (13.8% vs 4.5%; p = 0.002). No statistical difference has been noticed concerning age, gender, and ICU stay. We observed an increase of performed autopsies and a total discrepancy rate similar to the studies performed in the same institution in 2004 (22.5%) and 2007 (21%). In conclusion, discrepancies between clinical and PME diagnoses persist despite the medical progress. Secondly, the autopsy after a short hospital stay may reveal unexpected findings whose diagnosis is challenging even if it may be suspected by the intensivist.

ԲԱՐՁՐԱԳՈՒՅՆ ԿՐԹՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՈՐԱԿԻ ԱՊԱՀՈՎՄԱՆ ՄՈԴԵԼՆԵՐԻ ԳՈՐԾԱՐԿՄԱՆ ՍԿԶԲՈՒՆՔՆԵՐՆ ՈՒ ԱՌԱՆՁՆԱՀԱՏԿՈՒԹՅՈՒՆՆԵՐԸ / THE PRINCIPLES AND PECULIARITIES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY ASSURANCE MODELS

The article examines the principles and peculiarities of the implementation of American and European models of quality assurance in higher education. As a result, similarities and differences were identified between the studied models and quality assurance processes in the Republic of Armenia. According to the results of this research, the main similarities among the models are in identifying and meeting the needs and requirements of stakeholders, the vision of managers, their managerial abilities and skills, the application of the principle of continuous quality improvement in various processes, strengthening and developing cooperation and encouraging employees. The differences among the studied models are mainly related to the peculiarities of the field of higher education quality assurance in a given country, some principles and approaches to the implementation of the models. Unlike the studied models, in Armenia special attention is paid to the units of measurement of the results of the processes - key performance indicators (KPI) or quality assurance indicators (QPI) in the context of quality assurance, since the performance of entities depends on them.

Toward a Quality Framework: Exploring Consumer Perceptions of Barramundi

Consumers are increasingly relying on quality assurance indicators when purchasing agriproducts like fish, where they lack the confidence and ability to judge quality. Any industry quality scheme should start with an understanding of the product attributes consumers value. This paper explores Australian consumers’ perceptions of quality in relation to fish in general and barramundi specifically, using data from a national online survey of 2,061 consumers. Analysis of two open-ended questions and a perceptual mapping exercise indicate consumers value both intrinsic attributes such as freshness, color and smell, and extrinsic attributes such as origin and price. These results present the Australian barramundi industry with a starting point to develop a consumer-based quality framework and ensure consistent quality as valued by consumers.

Developing indicators for quality assurance in cytopathology. Catalan Society of Cytopathology.

Quality control in cytology must be established through reliable and easily measurable indicators. From the Catalan Society of Cytopathology a group of experts has been established to write a document with 13 indicators that cover the entire cytological process, based on its Cytopathology Quality Guide. It has been elaborated through guides and documents with scientific evidence and DELPHI methodology in order to reach a structured consensus on the opinions of a group of experts. Thirteen indicators, covering all the cytologic process are expressed in worksheets specifying all their characteristics. This document allows the control of all stages of the cytological process.

Werden Männer und Frauen mit Brustkrebs in Deutschland gleichbehandelt?

IntroductionWithin the statutory health insurance system of the Federal Republic of Germany, a system of quality assurance has been implemented and operationalised through the measurement of quality indicators. For breast surgery, these quality indicators are mainly based on recommendations of the German clinical guideline for screening, diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of breast cancer. The 2018 update of this guideline includes a new chapter on breast cancer in men. The aim of this analysis is to examine whether male and female patients with breast cancer are treated equally where appropriate and recommended by the clinical guideline, as measured by the quality indicators. MethodData of ten quality assurance indicators were analysed, for each indicator separately, stratified by sex and pooled over a 5-year period to gain statistical power. This dataset constitutes the largest data pool of men with surgical interventions for breast neoplasm in Germany. Indicator results were then compared between male and female cases. Additional subgroup analyses were carried out for two quality indicators with substantial outcome difference between male and female cases in order to detect possible differences in the treatment of breast cancer between different medical departments. ResultsThe database of the ten quality assurance indicators comprised 551,221 patients (546,324 females and 4,897 males) between 2014 and 2018. Pooled data of nine quality indicators (QIs) showed statistically significant outcome differences between male and female cases. In spite of pooling, the male sample size of four QIs was too small to allow for statistically reliable comparisons between male and female patients. Outcome differences in the remaining five QIs may, on the one hand, be explained by anatomical differences and different extent of the surgery, and on the other hand they confirm international data for lower HER2-positivity rates in male breast cancer patients. However, two process indicators, aiming at pretherapeutic biopsy and sentinel lymph node biopsy in invasive breast cancer recommended by the clinical guideline, show substantial differences of more than 6 percentage points between the sexes: although recommended by the clinical guideline, both procedures are carried out less often in male cases. Further analysis regarding the medical departments that recorded the treatment revealed that risk for non-adherence to guideline recommendation was high if treatment took place in non-gynaecological departments. Compared to gynaecological departments, procedures such as pretherapeutic biopsy and sentinel lymph node biopsy were carried out less frequently if cases were documented to be handled by surgery or plastic surgery departments. Discussion and conclusionAnalysis of breast surgery quality indicators reveals a lower level of adherence to guideline recommendations for men with breast cancer compared to women in some aspects of the guideline, as measured by statutory quality indicators in breast surgery. Male breast cancer might be a rare disease, but nevertheless, awareness-rising is needed in diagnostics, treatment and interdisciplinarity in order to avoid inequality between the sexes.

СУТНІСТЬ ТА ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ ПРОЦЕСНО-ОРІЄНТОВАНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ ЕКОНОМІЧНИМ ПОТЕНЦІАЛОМ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ

The article explores the nature and essential characteristics of process-based management of enterprise economic potential in the frameworks of system analysis of the current approaches and critical thinking to the development of modern economic theory. A retrospective analysis of the research studies over the past two decades has provided insights into the nature of an ‘economic potential’ concept and has revealed a shift of focus in understanding and interpretation of the given category. It is emphasized that modern scholarly publications demonstrate evidence of extensive research on various aspects of the economic potential concept and fundamental differences in the above term interpretations, however, the application of structural analysis would greatly enlarge the research scope, in particular, will enable to identify the four basic dimensions: the level and functionality of resources, their value-based perspective, along with the focus to production outcome or a transformation process. Through the realization of such approach, a company will get an opportunity to build an up-to-date action plan trajectory; accumulate the necessary range of resources, skills and capabilities, where company business processes of sustainable operation and development are designed to ensure their close interaction, clear manner and consistency. An in-depth literature review to summarize numerous academic viewpoints has provided for identifying a business process as a set of interrelated activities that have their entry and exit points, specific interfaces, and organizational structure. Through a number of functions, they effectively design a range of actions and perform tasks to ensure well-ordered operation, thus producing results (production outcomes) that have value to a customer. A thorough study on modern companies’ economic potential provides argument that it is the business process that creates opportunities to shape its capacity to manufacture competitive products to meet customers’ needs. These companies understand the vast potential sustainable development provides that translates into the growing need to design their own strategic indicators to ensure common and effective structure and organizational pattern of business processes. In this context, such factors as the company size, price or other indicators are becoming paramount. Companies always strive for attaining better performance, thus it is critical to develop a reasonable ranking methodology to manage fundamental and auxiliary business processes, as well as the company internal efficiency. This study has deployed commonly accepted indicators of quality assurance affected by economic potential factors through active interaction between company business processes, technology, human resources, management, information, knowledge, etc. The research findings have revealed the specifics of a certain shift in business management associated with the transition from functional management approach to process-based management. Accordingly, the economic potential is viewed as a network of interconnected decisions and processes. Since the main characteristics of the economic potential are the structure of business processes and the relationships between them at different levels which accommodate the important phases of business planning, control and adjustment to changing environment, the ultimate benefit a company obtains is the relevant toolkit to ensure effective business development.

Integrated learning pathways in higher education: A framework enhanced with machine learning and semantics

The present research work proposes the development of an integrated framework for the personalization and parameterization of learning pathways, aiming at optimizing the quality of the offered services by the Higher Educational Institutions (HEI). In order to achieve this goal, in addition to the educational part, the EDUC8 framework encloses the set of parameters that cover both the technical and the financial dimensions of a learning pathway, thus providing a complete tool for the optimization and calculation of the offered services by the HEIs in combination with the minimization of respective costs. Moreover, the proposed framework incorporates simulation modeling along with machine learning for the purpose of designing learning pathways and evaluating quality assurance indicators and the return on investment of implementation. The study presents a case study in relation to tertiary education in Greece, with a particular focus on Computer Science programs. Data clustering is specifically applied to learn potential insights pertaining to student characteristics, education factors and outcomes. Generally, the framework is conceived to provide a systematic approach for developing tertiary policies that help optimize the quality and cost of education.

The gap between competency self- evaluations and experienced pharmacists’ perceived competency evaluations regarding the Japanese 6-year pharmacy education programme

Abstract Objective To describe the need to create indicators or to use the competency framework of the Japanese six-year initial pharmacy education programme for the assessment of the programme from various viewpoints. Methods A web-based survey of pharmacists who graduated from the previous four-year pharmacy education programme (experienced 4-YP pharmacists) and pharmacists who graduated from the six-year initial pharmacy education programme (6-YP pharmacists) was conducted, targeting 350 pharmacists (200 experienced 4-YP pharmacists and 150 6-YP pharmacists). Based on their perceptions, experienced 4-YP pharmacists and 6-YP pharmacists evaluated whether 6-YP pharmacists possessed the “Professional Competencies for Pharmacists”. The authors compared the 6-YP pharmacists’ self-perceived competency evaluations with the experienced 4-YP pharmacists’ perceived competency evaluations. Results Regarding overarching competency as pharmacists (total competencies including competency 1–10 as pharmacists), the 6-YP pharmacists’ perceived competency self-evaluations were significantly higher overall than the experienced 4-YP pharmacists’ perceived competency evaluations (p ​ Conclusion This research suggests that the gap of competency evaluations that exists between experienced 4-YP pharmacists and 6-YP pharmacists could also occur between pharmacists and patients or other health workers. Therefore, we must identify the underlying reasons for this gap based on quality assurance indicators or a competency framework, and we finally must advocate for the role of pharmacists in Japanese society in near future.

The Role of Transformational Leadership - Between Challenges and Opportunities - in Applying the Comprehensive Quality at Al-Istiqlal University in Palestine as a Case Study

The study aimed to identify the Role of Transformational Leadership – between Challenges and Opportunities – in Applying the Comprehensive Quality at Al-Istiqlal University in Palestine as a case study. To conduct the study the researcher used the descriptive method and relied on the sources of his data on the previous references and studies in addition to the information available at Al-Istiqlal University. The study examined the extent of applying the comprehensive quality through the academic, administrative and infrastructure fields. The study reached several results; some of them are listed below: 1-Al-Istiqlal University is applying the quality in the field of planning since its inception. It is strategic and operational plans are constantly being updated. The University has evaluated itself (according to the standards and weights guide for quantitative and qualitative indicators of quality assurance and accreditation according to the guide of Arab universities that are members in the union issued in Amman, 2010). It works to evaluate deviations. 2- The University administration holds periodic meetings with the staff to discuss and evaluate the conditions of the University, exchange viewpoints, and suggestions for continuous improvement and development. 3- The University does not have most of its curriculum. The number of faculty members who hold the rank of professor and associate professor is limited compared to the number of teaching staff. The participation of students in the evaluation of curricula, teachers and study plans is not active. 4- The University does not benefit from clean (solar) energy enough. It also does not benefit from fertile agriculture land it owns, and it does not treat sewage water. 5- The number of research papers by teaching staff and students published in refereed international journals is not at the required level. Based on the results of the study, the researcher made the following recommendations: 1-Providing special curricula for the University, giving scientific research more attention, opening promotions for scientific ranks, and the need to focus on the participation of students in evaluating curricula, teachers and study plans. 2- The University must take advantage of clean (solar) energy in the generation of electricity for self-use. as well as the exploitation of fertile agricultural land to grow vegetables and fruits to meet the University needs, and sewage treatment for irrigation. Keywords: Transformational Leadership, Challenges, and Opportunities, comprehensive quality, Al-Istiqlal University. DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-36-11 Publication date: December 31 st 2019

Validation of Newly Developed Surveys to Evaluate Patients' and Providers' Satisfaction with Telehealth Obstetric Services.

Background: Patient and/or provider satisfaction and experience are among the most important indicators for quality assurance of health care services, including telehealth. Validated surveys should be used for this purpose to provide reliable information for a program evaluation. Objective: To validate the newly developed satisfaction surveys, report patient, and provider satisfaction with Antenatal and Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning Systems (ANGELS) telehealth services. Methods: Two self-administered paper surveys were developed by a multidisciplinary team. The surveys were validated among obstetric patients who received telehealth services in 2016 and providers in Arkansas from July to August 2017. Psychometric testing was performed to establish reliability and validity of both the surveys. Descriptive statistics was performed to describe patient and provider satisfaction. Results: A total of 89 patient- and 66 provider surveys were analyzed. Construct validity and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α >0.7) were confirmed on both the surveys. The majority of patients were highly satisfied with telehealth services and reported positive perceptions toward future use of services. In the past 12 months, telehealth (78.6%) was the most used ANGELS service by providers. Finally, >90% of the providers reported high satisfaction and rated telehealth services as "excellent." Conclusions: The newly developed patient and provider telehealth surveys were reliable and valid. The surveys also demonstrated that the telehealth services were well-accepted and highly valued in a sample of obstetric patients and providers. As both surveys are short, they can be used in routine evaluation of patient and provider satisfaction with similar telehealth programs in the country.

Feasibility Research of the New Fixation Device Compatible with Head and Neck Coil of MRI for Radiotherapy

MRI simulation images quality of head and neck coil scanning is better than that of radiotherapy surface coil, but currently the head and neck coil is not compatible with radiotherapy positioning devices. In this paper, a new fixation device is developed based on computer reverse engineering technology, which can be used in combination with head and neck coil. This article focuses on discussing the feasibility of the new device in radiotherapy. The obtained ACR phantom and Cat phantom 504 images were used to analyze MR and CT images quality assurance indicators. The dose attenuation of 6 MV photons was measured using the ionization chamber. The results showed each index met the clinical application requirements of intracranial tumor radiotherapy, thereby it can be used in intracranial tumor radiotherapy.

Assessing the Implementation of American College of Surgeons Quality Indicators for Pancreatic Cancer Across an Integrated Health System.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) recently published quality assurance (QA) indicators for pancreatic cancer care. Implementing quality indicators in a newly formed health system may lead to better patient selection and standardized cancer care. Select ACS and internal quality indicators were implemented system wide in 2014. We compared compliance with these measures before and after their implementation at the main hospital and two new affiliate institutions. A total of 506 patients with pancreatic cancer were included. At the main hospital in the pre-QA period, 11 (12.6%) of 87 patients were discussed at our institutional multidisciplinary tumor board meeting; this number rose to 89 (49.7%) of 179 patients (P < .001) after the implementation. Clinical TNM stage was documented in the electronic medical record in 75 patients (86.2%) in the pre-QA group; this number rose to 170 (94.9%; P = .026) in the post-QA era. External imaging of patients undergoing resection was uploaded in 10 (66.7%) of 15 patient cases in the pre-QA period; this number rose to 33 (93.4%) of 35 (P = .020). Rates of time from diagnosis to treatment initiation shorter than 60 days were similar between eras (n = 26, 96.3% v n = 57, 95%). Implementation of QA measures at the affiliate institutions did not result in measurable differences. There were no differences in margin-negative resection rate, lymph node yield, or perioperative mortality after QA implementation at any site. The implementation of ACS quality indicators at our main hospital was feasible and effective for several measures, without delaying treatment. Instituting these indicators at lower-volume affiliates was more challenging.

The Prefectural Participation Rates of Lung Cancer Screening Had a Negative Correlation with the Lung Cancer Mortality Rates

Background:The participation rate is one of the most important indexes in the cancer screening. Historically in Japan, each local government has developed their own equations to calculate the subjects for population-based screening, which were different from each other, and therefore the participation rates of screening were not comparable. Recently, local governments were ordered to use the standardized equation in reporting data, which made it possible to compare the participation rates of cancer screening nationwide for the first time. We therefore investigated the correlation between the prefectural lung cancer mortality and several indicators of lung cancer screening.Methods:The prefectural participation rates of lung, gastric and colonic cancer screening, test positive rates, attendance rates for further examination, lung cancer detection rates and positive predictive values of lung cancer screening were collected from “Cancer Registration and Statistics” of the National Cancer Research Center website. The age-adjusted lung, gastric and colonic cancer mortality rates, smoking rates were also collected. The EZR software program was used for statistical analyses.Results:The participation rates of lung cancer screening had a strong positive correlation with the participation rates of gastric/colonic cancer screening (P<0.001). The prefectural lung cancer mortality rates had a moderate to weak negative correlation with the participation rates of lung cancer screening (P=0.009). A little correlation was noted between other quality assurance indicators of lung cancer screening and lung cancer mortality rates.Conclusion:These results suggested that participating in lung cancer screening might help reduce lung cancer mortality rates in some extent.

Acceptance Test and Image Quality Assurance of MRI Simulator Equipment

MRI simulator(MRI-Sim) images have unique clinical advantages with higher resolution of soft tissue and clearer visualization of tissue boundaries. Thus, the precise positioning of the tumor target area can be achieved and it is widely used in the field of radiotherapy. This article focuses on the acceptance test project and image quality assurance work of MRI-Sim equipment. The obtained ACR phantom images were used to analyze various image quality assurance indicators, and the results all reached the set standards, thereby ensuring that the obtained images meet the requirements of clinical applications.

Quality assurance in melanoma care: The EU-MELACARE study

BackgroundA significant disparity regarding survival outcome for melanoma among European regions is well recognized and access to high quality care for European melanoma patients needs to be improved. There is an unmet need for the implementation of minimal standard of care within defined clinical pathways and Quality Assurance (QA) indicators. ObjectiveThe EU-MELACARE study aims to identify shared variables for cutaneous melanoma cases recorded in melanoma registries across Europe. Material and methodsOpinion leaders involved in melanoma data registration and care quality analysis in 34 European countries were invited to respond to an expert survey covering questions regarding the melanoma registration practice in their countries and the characteristics, coverage and variables collected by the relevant melanoma registries. ResultsData regarding 13 melanoma registries from 11 European countries contributed to the study. The majority (61,5%) were population based registries and more than half (62%) had national coverage. The included registries collected a median of 38 variables (Interquartile Range, IRQ 21–76). We identified 24 shared variables available in >70% of registries. ConclusionsThis study provides valuable specific information on information recorded for melanoma cases are registered within Europe. A core of shared variables has been identified, which will constitute the basis for a standardized set of QA indicators for assessing and monitoring melanoma care across European countries.

Measuring the Quality of Office Services for the Research Centers at the University of Technology According to Standards and Indicators of Quality Assurance and Reliability of Iraqi universities

Measuring the Quality of Office Services for the Research Centers at the University of Technology According to Standards and Indicators of Quality Assurance and Reliability of Iraqi universities

Framework indicators for European quality assurance in VET towards environmentally sustainable economy

This paper details the new eQvet-us framework list of indicators which is based on the principle that training contributes to the development of human capital, enhances social cohesion and should also pursuit financial sustainability and environmental responsibility. The framework is settled based on the 3 pillars of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental, embedded in the 7 social responsibility core subjects referenced in ISO26000, adapted to training delivery context. It has been structured in 4 main phases: design of training provision, training delivery, training evaluation, continuous improvement, each of them corresponding to the 4 phases of quality cycle. For each correspondence with the core subjects of social responsibility, eQvet-us framework establishes a specific indicator, to support the self-evaluation process of VET providers in regards to the implementation of a sustainable model to continuously improve quality in VET. The implementation results of the eQvet-us framework in a VET organization from Romania is presented. It provides further suggestions on enhancing the eQvet-us framework transferability to other countries and VET institutions.

The Quality of Business Education in the Kingdom of Bahrain

The Directorate of Higher Education Reviews (DHR) is part of the Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) that was officially established in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2008. Its primary objective is to enhance the quality of higher education in the Kingdom by conducting reviews into the quality assurance arrangements of higher education institutions (HEIs) and identifying areas in need of improvement. Reviews are carried out using four indicators each of which has a number of sub-indicators. The Review Reports, developed as a result of the reviews, contain judgements about whether or not each of the programmes meets the requirements of each indicator as well as make recommendations for the enhancement of the programmes.Purpose:This paper presents a ranking of the HEIs based on their performance in the business programme reviews conducted by DHR, foremost, by looking into the number of programmes which have received satisfactory judgement; secondly, by analyzing the HEIs’ performance in terms of review judgments (‘Confidence’, ‘Limited Confidence’, or ‘No Confidence’) vis-a-vis the number of registered and affected students, the number of programme offerings, as well as the four quality indicators.Design:The study is basically a descriptive type of research offering a qualitative discussion on the findings. The data used have been based on DHR Programmes-within-College Reviews Reports, which have been published in the BQA website starting 2012. In analyzing the performance of the HEIs, and for purposes of interpreting data, each HEI has been allotted one (1) point for every programme with ‘Confidence’ judgment; half point (.5) for every programme with ‘Limited Confidence’ judgment; and no point (0) for each programme which got ‘No Confidence’ judgment.A total of 36 DHR Review Reports have been included in this study which are available online via http://www.bqa.gov.bh/En/Reports/UniReports/Pages/default.aspx. Findings:There are generally four major findings in this study, to wit:The quality of business education in the Kingdom of Bahrain is generally “above average” as revealed in the programme reviews conducted by DHR between 2012 and 2016.Majority of the business students in the Kingdom of Bahrain are registered in a general Management programme (39%) while the least appealing business disciplines are MIS and Economics, each with only 4% of the total number of registered students.Notwithstanding the overall performance of the HEIs, at least two HEIs MUST review their business education provision in light of the DHR review reports and in consideration of their “below average” performance in the programme reviews.The two indicators of programme quality which the concerned HEIs need to seriously consider are Academic Standards of the Graduates (Indicator 2) and Effectiveness of Quality Management & Assurance (Indicator 4).Limitations of the Study:There were 14 HEIs operating in the Kingdom of Bahrain during the period covered in this study. This paper, however, included only 10 of which because three of these institutions had shut down before completing the second cycle of programme reviews, while one university (QRS University) does not offer business-related programmes. XYZ University and YZA University had undergone Cycle 1 programme reviews, but both HEIs had decided to cease operation before the introduction of Programmes-within-College Reviews (Cycle 2) in 2009; as such both have been excluded in this study. XYZ University stopped its operation in 2008, while YZA voluntarily shut down the following year. Moreover, KLM University, has been likewise excluded because it ceased operation in 2013 when its license was revoked by the Higher Education Council following a closure order by a court in the Kingdom.Value of the StudyThe value of this study is anchored on the main objectives of programme reviews as detailed in the DHR’s Programmes-within-College Reviews Handbook (2014), which are: (1) to provide decision-makers, including employers, with evidence-based judgements on the quality of learning programmes; (2) to support the development of internal quality assurance processes with information on emerging good practices and challenges, evaluative comments and continuing improvement; and (3) to enhance the reputation of Bahrain’s higher education regionally and internationally (DHR Programmes-within College Reviews Handbook, 2014).