Criteria and Indicators of Dental Care Quality: State of Development and Usage

Abstract

Healthcare quality criteria and indicators allow the head of the health care facility to clearly orientate in the degree of achievement of targets and improvement of results for patients. Studies of approaches to the formation of criteria and indicators of quality in the conditions of real domestic clinical practice, in particular, dental, are isolated. At the same time, in Ukraine there are no clinical protocols of dental care based on evidence-based technologies, which contain clinical quality indicators. The purpose of the study was to conduct a research on approaches to the development and usage of criteria and indicators for the quality of dental care in dental health facilities. Materials and methods. Such materials were used in the study as work plans for 2010-2019, administrative documents (orders), maps of expert assessments, "Guidelines for quality", internal audit protocols (a total of 149 units) of the three regional health care institutions of the dental profile. Methods, which were used, are system and process approach, content analysis, comparative analysis, graphical method. Results and discussion. In each institution, criteria and quality indicators are developed and monitored at the level of the doctor, line managers, the head of the institution and the medical council. Line managers conduct expert quality assessment, generalized "models of end results" which are formed at the level of the head of the institution. Detailed sets of criteria for the quality of the dental care process, ancillary processes and quality management systems are formed. Quantitative evaluation of the corresponding results on a scale and individual percentages is carried out. In general, the set of quality criteria and indicators is excessive in number, which does not meet the quality criteria defined by the standards for quality management systems, it contains mainly indicators of traditional industry reporting. At the same time, the world's evidence-based technologies of dental practice contain clinical indicators that reflect the use of interventions that have a proven impact on the quality of dental care expected by the patient, and which ensure efficient use of resources. Conclusion. The introduction of evidence-based technologies in dental practice is appropriate to improve approaches to the development of quality criteria and indicators, monitoring of clinical processes and compliance audits should be used, expert assessment should be carried out in case of defects