|
View the EQuIP 4 Standards and Criteria – highlighting the mandatory criteria
View the linkage document outlining the changes from EQuIP 3rd edition to EQuIP 4
The ACHS is confident that EQuIP 4 is a clear step forward in improving the safety and quality of health care in Australia. The standards address the safety and quality issues identified as national priorities.
For your EQuIP 4 questions, please contact the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards on: +61 2 9281 9955. |
|
ACHS EQuIP 4
After a lengthy and highly consultative development phase, August 2006 saw the release of EQuIP 4th edition; the accreditation standards from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS).
Since the current 3rd edition standards of the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP), were finalised in April 2002 there have been significant changes impacting on the national patient safety agenda. In total 35 criteria from the 43 in the 3rd edition have been retained as criteria in EQuIP 4. In addition key issues identified by the previous Australian Council on Safety and Quality in Health Care have been given greater emphasis to address these changes.
EQuIP 4 is an evolution from the 3rd edition as it retains all the key content, however some 3rd edition criteria have been reconfigured. For example some multiple criteria have been condensed into one, some single criterion have been separated into more than one and other criteria have been included in EQuIP 4 as elements.
There are 14 mandatory criteria for EQuIP 4, which were determined through a lengthy consultation, involving an electronic survey to which almost 900 responses were received.
|
The EQuIP review process
Commencing in November 2004, the review of EQuIP 3rd edition and development of EQuIP 4 began with an examination of the relevant literature and a comparison of the EQuIP standards and criteria with those of the UK, Canada, the USA, New Zealand, Ireland, France and Japan. The ACHS established over ten different working groups as well as reference panels, expert advisory groups and focus groups throughout Australia for specific topics in addition to other consultative forums and pilot studies. The final version of EQuIP 4 was subsequently adopted by the Board in May 2006.
Through EQuIP 4 the focus of the program has been strengthened in relation to clinical care and consumer participation. As part of the effort to increase the clinical focus of EQuIP the arrangement of the EQuIP 3rd edition standards into six topic areas, known as functions, has been restructured into three topic areas: clinical, support and corporate, for EQuIP 4. |
Timing for implementation
Organisations scheduled to undergo a self-assessment or an onsite survey from 1 January 2007 to 30 June 2007 will have the option to utilise either EQuIP 3rd edition or EQuIP 4. From 1 July 2007, all ACHS member health care organisations need to self-assess and be surveyed against EQuIP 4.
This introductory period is aimed at addressing concerns that the four-year cycle of EQuIP membership requires the same organisations to be the first assessed by the new standards each time they are updated. |
The differences between EQuIP 3rd edition and EQuIP 4?
While there is a new function structure, which makes the standards appear quite different at first glance, the focus of the update has really been to strengthen the existing standards rather than creating a new framework.
The vast majority of issues addressed in EQuIP 4 were also included in EQuIP 3rd edition. Most ‘new’ criteria were in the 3rd edition as elements.
In addition to the 35 criteria from EQuIP 3rd edition retained as ‘criteria’ in EQuIP 4, key patient safety issues which were included as elements and guidelines in the 3rd edition now appear as ‘criteria’. The purpose is to strengthen the focus on these issues. For example: medication management, correct site surgery, falls management, and management of blood and blood components, which were addressed under the Continuum of Care function in the 3rd edition, are now specified as criteria in EQuIP 4. Credentialling, which was previously addressed in the elements of the Human Resources criteria, is now a specific criterion. |
Right procedure - right patient - right time
‘Appropriateness’, one of the nine dimensions of quality, was introduced into this edition after a gap was identified and it is intended to ensure organisations have systems in place to determine and evaluate the ‘appropriateness’ of care provided. In other words do organisations have a process for assessing if an intervention is necessary – is it the right procedure on the right patient at the right time and in the right setting?
As a ‘developmental’ criterion for a four-year period, organisations will work towards achieving the standard, however rating of this criterion will not be considered when determining an organisation’s accreditation status. The purpose of this approach is to create awareness, encourage improvement and research and commence collaborative national action. |
Achievable standards?
The standards need to provide a realistic framework for improving the safety and quality of care. Consultation with industry helps ensure they are achievable. It is also important to note that the vast majority of safety and quality issues highlighted in EQuIP 4 were already included in the 3rd edition.
ACHS accreditation standards have been reviewed 13 times before the introduction of EQuIP in 1996 and, including this latest review, four times since.
As always, the ACHS will be providing supporting information as well as the assistance of our Customer Services Managers who work to help prepare organisations for accreditation assessments. In addition the final standards are available around ten months prior to when it will be essential for organisations to be surveyed against them. |
