Сonference “Implementation of healthcare quality management concept in Ukraine”

The conference was aimed at discussion of service quality within the healthcare system. This is a basic ad hoc criterion of a healthcare system from its lower stage – healthcare facility and up to the upper one – the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The conference was attended by both national and international experts of the Project: Michael Bews, Elena Novichkova, Dr. Greta Ross and WHO experts - Dr. Pierra Poletti and Dr. Alex Bureka.

The conference was also attended by deputy heads of OHCDs authorized with quality control potential for healthcare services, MOH representatives and many scientists.
Participating experts presented their materials during the conference.

Preservation and improvement of health for population, healthcare reforming processes based on quality healthcare services, development of healthcare services which may support to equal and fair access to high-quality, safe and effective medical services for all citizens, public health and living standards improvement, ideas and issues of amends to the fundamentals of the Law on healthcare in Ukraine were the priority items to be discussed during the first conference day.

On the next day, the conference was concentrated on discussions. Three working sections were formed and short presentations of experts were delivered during the day two.
Medical practice licensing, definition of a system approach to TB/ HIV/AIDS prevention, laboratory diagnostics and clinical pharmacology, public accreditation procedures for healthcare facilities of different forms of ownership, patients’ safety and palliative care, clinical quality assessment, quality indicators and reporting system were the issues discussed.
After detailed and complex discussions within section groups, participants formed objective recommendations for improving healthcare quality management system in Ukraine, taking into account the following directions:
• Patients’ rights protection on all levels of healthcare services.
• Patient-oriented healthcare via informing and partnership programs during prevention, treatment and rehabilitation periods, patients’ participation in healthcare quality management, control over financial feasibility, efficiency and effectiveness of treatment measures, safety of medical and pharmaceutical interventions.
• Development of a centralized healthcare quality indicators database, with a unified format for quality indicators.
• Development of electronic monitoring for quality indicators with mandatory usage of IT technologies. Healthcare levels and basic components of the quality system by Donabedian shall be taken into account during quality indicator development; they shall be presented by structure, process and results.
• Development of a public system of external quality assessment for clinical laboratory research.

The following steps were proposed by the Project “Support to secondary healthcare reform in Ukraine” to implement the recommendations considered above:
1. Priority status (of a disease) with the greatest influence on mortality rates for population shall be defined;
2. Healthcare system shall refuse from healthcare quality assessments by using indicators without scientific basis;
3. Activities on a development technique for quality indicators shall be completed;
4. Healthcare professionals of quality indicators’ monitoring shall be properly trained; 
5. Evidence-based draft (part 2) of the Unified technique for development of clinical guidelines, medical standards, unified clinical healthcare protocols, local protocols (clinical pathways of patients) developed by the Project “Support to secondary healthcare reform”, as well as the Glossary of healthcare standardization and quality terms (proposed for consideration during the conference) shall be approved.