1st Workshop on Pilot Implementation of the Performance Assessment Tool for quality improvement in Hospitals (PATH) : Barcelona, Spain, 22-24 February 2004

Abstract

The objective of this workshop was to organize the pilot implementation of a Performance Assessment Tool for quality improvement in Hospitals (‎PATH)‎ developed by WHO Europe in a sample of hospitals in six European countries (‎Belgium, Denmark, France, Lithuania, Poland/Silesia Region and Slovakia)‎ and two countries outside Europe (‎South Africa/Kwazulu Natal and Canada/Ontario)‎. The PATH project aims to provide tools to support hospitals in assessing their performance, questioning their own results, and translating them into actions for improvement, or benchmarking. At the workshop, a group of experts in performance assessment and country focal points drawn from hospital managers, physicians, technical experts in information systems, etc., drafted a strategic plan for each participating country, identifying key stakeholders, roles and responsibilities and priorities for action, agreed on recommendations on standard operational definitions of indicators across countries, and discussed data collection issues and data quality control mechanisms. A calendar for implementation was agreed upon. All participants were aware that comparisons are sensitive and should be interpreted with great caution because of varying local contexts. This is incremented at international level. PATH relies as much as possible on available data to minimize the burden of data collection. A template for data collection is being prepared. Mobilizing staff at all levels will be an important factor to the access of the project