[Sponsored Content] Quality and Safety: More Than Just Buzzwords

By Darlene K. Humphreys

“Quality” and “Safety” – these words are used often in healthcare, but what do they really mean in practice?

At the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC), quality and safety aren’t just abstract ideals. They are the foundation upon which every accreditation program is built. Understanding their true meaning is essential for any facility striving to deliver top-tier patient care.

Quality

Quality is not merely about doing things well, it’s about doing them right, consistently, and in accordance with established standards.

Definition: The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.

In healthcare, this means providing services that are:

• Evidence-based
• Performed with technical accuracy
• Interpreted by qualified professionals
• Delivered with a patient-first mindset

Safety

While quality speaks to excellence, safety speaks to trust. Patients deserve to know they are well cared for – where risks are minimized and protocols are in place to protect them at every step. 

Definition: The condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury.

Safety in healthcare involves:

• Following best practices to avoid errors
• Maintaining equipment and environments to prevent harm
• Ensuring all staff are trained and competent
• Creating a culture where speaking up about concerns is encouraged

Why It Matters

Quality and safety are not optional – they are expected. Through accreditation, the IAC helps facilities demonstrate that they meet these expectations not only in principle, but in practice. Accreditation is both a benchmark and a motivator: it assures patients, payers, and providers that excellence and safety are at the forefront.

All patients who enter into the healthcare system in America deserve many things. Most healthcare facilities have developed their own list of quality points, often referred to as a Patient’s Bill of Rights. 

These rights vary from facility to facility, state to state, but they generally contain the same items:

Right to Respectful Care: All patients have the right to receive considerate, respectful, and dignified care without discrimination based on race, religion, or any other factor.

Informed Consent: Patients have the right to be fully informed about their diagnosis, treatment options, and the qualifications of their healthcare providers before consenting to or refusing procedures.

• Right to Refuse Treatment: Patients have the right to refuse medical treatment or to withdraw from experimental research after being fully informed of the consequences.
• Confidentiality and Privacy: Patients’ communications and health information must be treated confidentially and protected.
• Access to Emergency Services: Patients have the right to access necessary emergency health care without delay.
• Participation in Treatment Decisions: Patients have the right to participate in all decisions related to their own healthcare, including making an advanced directive.
• Cultural and Spiritual Values: Patients’ cultural, psychosocial, spiritual, and personal values and preferences must be respected during their care.

These demonstrate basic rights that are promised to each of us at the most vulnerable times in our lives. 

However, nowhere in this bill of rights is quality and safety ever mentioned. 

Are those things just inherent? Do we just assume that facilities or healthcare workers have a calling to ensure that their work and caring is quality work? Or, that they are providing as much protection and safety as possible?

How Do You Benchmark Quality and Safety?

Benchmarking quality and safety can indeed be complex – these attributes can be moving targets without standardized, clearly defined guidelines. What one person considers a “quality” outcome may differ significantly from another’s perspective. To reduce ambiguity and ensure consistency, the best approach is to establish a formal quality and safety improvement program.

A quality and safety program provides a structured framework to assess, improve, and maintain processes. It outlines clear direction, timelines, activities, and evaluation metrics.

1. Form a Quality Improvement (QI) Team & Define Objectives

• Select key personnel who are committed to the program’s success.
• Clearly define what you are trying to accomplish – specific outcomes related to quality and safety.
• Identify measures that provide meaningful and actionable data.
• Focus on areas you can control and avoid overextending into variables outside your influence.
• Establish minimum thresholds or boundaries for each metric to reduce individual interpretation and ensure consistency.

2. Begin Gathering Data

• Collect data across multiple points in time to determine a reliable baseline average.
• Ensure data is objective, measurable, and repeatable.
• For each measure that falls below threshold, develop and document a corrective action plan.

3. Identify Opportunities for Improvement

• Use your data to pinpoint weaknesses or areas needing attention.
• Activate your corrective action plans and monitor for effectiveness.
• Consider how best to communicate your quality strategy to internal stakeholders for better alignment and support.

4. Set Specific, Realistic Goals

• Once you establish baseline performance, set attainable improvement goals.
• Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
• Assign reasonable time frames for reaching each goal.

5. Monitor Progress & Evaluate Results

• Regularly monitor outcomes and evaluate trends.
• Share results – both positive and negative – with your entire organization.
• Highlight and celebrate successes.
• For underperformance, revisit and implement your corrective action plan promptly.

6. Sustain the Improvement

• Prevent regression by maintaining ongoing monitoring.
• If performance dips, early detection allows for quick intervention.
• Continually refine your processes to adapt to new challenges and maintain gains.

Implementing and managing a quality and safety program can be time-consuming and, at times, tedious. We won’t pretend otherwise. However, there are resources available to help streamline this process and make it more manageable.

The IAC offers a suite of QI tools designed to support facilities in their commitment to safety and excellence in medical imaging. Importantly, you do not need to be an IAC-accredited facility to access these tools. While setting up a free account is required, the tools themselves are available at no cost to all users and can be accessed at intersocietal.org.

The most comprehensive resource available is the IAC QI tool. It provides an easy-to-use, self-assessment platform that helps facilities evaluate performance across four key quality measures.

By participating in this initiative, your facility gains valuable insights into its quality and safety practices, empowering your team to make informed improvements and maintain high standards of care.

This platform is an easy to use, self-assessment for facilities to evaluate four key measures of quality, as defined in the IAC Standards:  

• Test appropriateness
• Technical quality and safety of the imaging
• Interpretive quality review
• Report completeness and timeliness

For facilities pursuing accreditation or reaccreditation, use of the QI tool will ensure compliance with the requirements. Those not participating in the IAC process are welcome to access the QI tool as a method for developing their own QI program; again free of charge. 

Other tools provided by the IAC include Accreditation Simplified live and on-demand webinars. These webinars also include a continuing education credit for attendees and are offered at no cost to everyone. 

Your Quality and Safety Program is a Living System.

It depends on thoughtful planning, ongoing commitment, and the dedication of a few conscientious individuals to stay healthy and effective. Like any living thing, it needs care and attention. It thrives on the data you feed it – and in return, it grows stronger, providing valuable insights that support your patients, your staff, and your entire facility.

Nurture it. Invest in it. And it will reward you with better outcomes and a safer, higher-quality environment for all.

For more info, visit intersocietal.org.

Darlene K. Humphreys, AS, RT(R)(M)(MR)(CT), is the director of accreditation for the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC)-MRI. In 2009, Humphreys began working with IAC as an MRI/CT application reviewer. Her longstanding commitment to imaging excellence led her to join IAC full-time in June 2021. She has experience in a variety of clinical settings including hospitals, free standing imaging centers and teleradiology, giving her a unique perspective on the needs of many.