Accreditation ; organization & administration ; China ; Hospital Administration ; standards

The safety and effectiveness of medical devices are directly related to human health. Therefore, how to improve the accreditation validity of medical devices testing laboratory has been the focus of attention from every corner of society. With respect to the characteristics of medical devices testing laboratory, this paper represented the existing issues during the accreditation and evaluation of testing laboratory, put forward some improvement suggestions on how to improve the validity of testing laboratory evaluation based on the practical experience.
Accreditation ; Device Approval ; Laboratories ; organization & administration ; standards

It's a effective way to promote the quality of the laboratory in hospital by passing the ISO15189.This paper introduces the changes made in rebuilding the LIS according to the certified documents of the ISO15189.
Accreditation ; Hospital Information Systems ; organization & administration ; Laboratories, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Quality Control

The increasing globalisation of medicine, as manifested in the migration rate of medical doctors and in the growth of cross-border education providers, has inflicted a wave of quality assurance efforts in medical education, and underlined the need for definition of standards and for introduction of effective and transparent accreditation systems. In 2004, reflecting the importance of the interface between medical education and the healthcare delivery sector, a World Health Organization (WHO)/World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Strategic Partnership to improve medical education was formed. In 2005, the partnership published Guidelines for Accreditation of Basic Medical Education. The WHO/WFME Guidelines recommend the establishment of proper accreditation systems that are effective, independent, transparent and based on medical education-specific criteria. An important prerequisite for this development was the WFME Global Standards programme, initiated in 1997 and widely endorsed. The standards are now being used in all 6 WHO/WFME regions as a basis for quality improvement of medical education throughout its continuum and as a template for national and regional accreditation standards. Promotion of national accreditation systems will have a pivotal influence on future international appraisal of medical education. Information about accreditation status - the agencies involved and the criteria and procedure used - will be an essential component of new Global Directories of Health Professions Educational Institutions. According to an agreement between the WHO and the University of Copenhagen (UC), these Directories (the Avicenna Directories) will be developed and published by the UC with the assistance of the WFME, starting with renewal of the WHO World Directory of Medical Schools, and sequentially expanding to cover educational institutions for other health professions. The Directories will be a foundation for international meta-recognition ("accrediting the accreditors") of educational institutions and their programmes.
Accreditation ; Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; standards ; Internationality ; Policy Making ; Quality Control ; Schools, Medical ; World Health Organization

Constant change is inevitable in medical education. Medical education is continually influenced as medical schools adapt to new environments, as the society redefines the role of doctors, by ongoing advancements in medical practice, and as educational theory and practice continues to improve. In addition, the external stakeholders such as consumers, government, and accreditation bodies and internal stakeholders such as professors and students are seeking for changes in medical education. Developing an adequate response to the ongoing change in medical education is not easy. Making changes in a complex system like medical education has been compared to 'moving a graveyard'. In order to facilitate successful adaptation to the evolving social and educational parameters involved in medical education, leadership would benefit greatly by the study and application of change management theory that has proven successful in corporate manage ment. A number of authors have suggested that 'in loosely coupled organizations like medical schools, a campaign approach is more effective than a general change management approach'. To make the campaign approach successful, change leaders in medical education need to be facilitative leaders who can stimulate and guide constructive dialogue between faculty members and students, and who can promote a sense of ownership of the ongoing changes developing in the consultations between the internal stakeholders comprising the professors and students.
Accreditation ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Leadership ; Organization and Administration ; Organizational Innovation ; Ownership ; Referral and Consultation ; Schools, Medical

Clinical microbiology laboratories play a critical role in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) and monitoring its treatment. Poor quality laboratory services remain a major barrier to diagnosis by microscopy and culture, and may complicate the interpretation of drug susceptibility testing (DST) results. External quality assessment (EQA) for microscopy is an important component of quality assurance, and includes panel testing, slide rechecking, and on-site supervision. Periodic panel testing is the simplest way to assess the performance of laboratories. Rechecking of a sample of routine smears by a higher-level laboratory is the method of choice for evaluation and continuous motivation of peripheral laboratories. On-site supervision allows the observation of workers' performance under actual conditions, including equipment handling, laboratory safety, adequacy of supplies, and the processes used for smearing, staining, reading, recording, and reporting. Culture performance is not easily measured, and existing EQA programs are not sensitive enough to estimate the sensitivity of the process. Therefore, laboratory regulations and accreditation programs are critical to assure the quality of cultures. The Supranational Reference Laboratory Network (SRLN) was organized in 1994 to ensure optimal performance of laboratories conducting DST. A panel of 30 pretested and coded isolates is exchanged annually within the network for proficiency testing. It has been demonstrated that education and an EQA program can improve the proficiency of TB laboratories. However, quality programs in Korea are still weak. Expanded and strengthened laboratory quality improvement systems are necessary to achieve TB control in this country.
Accreditation ; Dietary Sucrose ; Equipment and Supplies ; Handling (Psychology) ; Korea ; Microscopy ; Motivation ; Organization and Administration ; Quality Improvement ; Social Control, Formal ; Tuberculosis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics of nursing science and identify expected outcomes from baccalaureate graduates, and to develop accreditation standards and criteria reflecting the characteristics of the nursing profession. METHODS: A methodological research design was utilized in this study. Related literature reviews and the nursing education program goals and objectives of the 99 nursing schools in Korea were analyzed. A cross-sectional survey research design was utilized to test the validity of the developed characteristics of the nursing profession and their accreditation criteria and standards. The face validity was from the advisory committee and public committee hearing. RESULTS: The characteristics of nursing science were defined with five concepts including humanity, scientific knowledge, professionalism, therapeutic relationship, and facilitating well-being. The expected outcomes from graduates were identified as providing holistic nursing, critical thinking, establishing professionalism and leadership, construction of a therapeutic relationship, and skilled nursing practice. Finally6 standards and 14 criteria reflecting the unique characteristics of the nursing profession were developed for accreditation. These proposed accreditation standards and criteria are a challenge to promote the quality of nursing science.
Accreditation/organization & administration/*standards ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Curriculum/standards ; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/organization & administration/*standards ; Humans ; Nursing Methodology Research ; Organizational Objectives

INTRODUCTION: Postgraduate medical education in Singapore underwent a major transition recently, from a British-style system and accreditation to a competency-based residency programme modelled after the American system. We aimed to identify the relative importance of factors influencing the choice of sponsoring institution (SI) for residency among medical students during this transition period. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of Singapore undergraduate medical students across all years of study was performed in 2011. Participants rated the degree of importance of 45 factors (including research, academia and education, marketing, reputation of faculty, working conditions, posting experience and influence by peers/seniors) to their choice of SIs on a five-point Likert scale. Differences in gender and seniority were compared. RESULTS: 705 out of 1,274 students completed the survey (response rate 55.3%). The top five influencing factors were guidance by mentor (4.48 ± 0.74), reputation for good teaching (4.46 ± 0.76), personal overall experience in SI (4.41 ± 0.88), quality of mentorship and supervision (4.41 ± 0.75), and quality and quantity of teaching (4.37 ± 0.78). The five lowest-rated factors were social networking (2.91 ± 1.00), SI security (3.01 ± 1.07), open house impact (3.15 ± 0.96), advertising paraphernalia (3.17 ± 0.95) and research publications (3.21 ± 1.00). Female students attributed more importance to security and a positive working environment. Preclinical students rated research and marketing aspects more highly, while clinical students valued a positive working environment more. CONCLUSION Quality of education, mentorship, experiences during clerkship and a positive working environment were the most important factors influencing the choice of SI.
Accreditation ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Curriculum ; Education, Medical, Graduate ; economics ; organization & administration ; Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; economics ; organization & administration ; Female ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Male ; Mentors ; Models, Organizational ; Schools, Medical ; Singapore ; Students, Medical ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; United States ; Universities

Group occupational health service programme started in 1990 is one of the measures to cope with limited human and financial resources in occupational health. The programme has expanded rapidly to include 52 institutions, private as well as public, all over the country. In spite of its potential impact on health of employees and practice of occupational health in small and medium sized industries, comprehensive evaluation in terms of quality has not been tried. This study has aims to develop the criteria to assess the quality of newly developed group occupational health service programme, and to investigate the quality of institutions, and finally to develop policies for the quality improvement. 1) Criteria development : By defining occupational health services, in particular for small and medium sized industries, as one of the primary health care, followings are included as core elements of qualitative occupational health programme ; accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, technical quality, intersectoral collaboration, emphasis on preventive services, community participation, and adequacy. Again each element is divided into five major components of national health system infrastructure developed by the World Health Organization ; development of health resources, organized arrangement of resources, delivery of health care, economic support, and management. In turn, each component is categorized into three aspects of quality assessment, structure, process and outcome. Expert panel selected several criteria for each category to evaluate the programme. Criteria were modified according to each group of interviewees, to produce two sets of questionnaire, one for chief operating officer and another for nurses in the institutions, and the chief operating officer and workers in the workplace. 2) Subject : Of all 52 institutions, 25 voluntarily participated in the survey. At individual institution, chief operating officer and practicing nurses were interviewed in depth. After intensive education for interviewees, every interview was performed with standardized guideline and questionnaire. The quality of the 'Group occupational health service programme' was found to be lower than expected. Especially In continuity, comprehensiveness, technical quality, community participation and adequacy, lower quality in structural aspect was commonly identified throughout all the institutions. Quality in terms of accessibility and continuity highly varied among institutions. To improve quality of the programme, more comprehensive and systematic programme such as accreditation has to be introduced. In addition, human resources, governmental fund and information systems for individual workers are to be developed. As a long range plan, integration of occupational health services into the national health systems and pooling of financial resources and planned allocation should be considered.
Accreditation ; Consumer Participation ; Cooperative Behavior ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Financial Management ; Health Resources ; Humans ; Information Systems ; Korea* ; Occupational Health Services* ; Occupational Health* ; Primary Health Care ; Quality Improvement ; Questionnaires ; Social Welfare ; World Health Organization

Until 1st July 1997, Hong Kong was under the governance of the British Government; therefore, the British system of education was followed. After internship, 7 years of general surgical training is required to obtain registration and fellowship qualifications of the College of Surgeon of Hong Kong and Edinburg. After having become a specialist in general surgery, the surgeon could choose to specialize in colorectal surgery with an additional 3 to 5 years of specialist training in an accredited centre and 6 months of overseas training with subsidies. On the contrary, China has more than 600 medical schools, and students can enroll in different programs to become a medical practitioner. Despite a great discrepancy exists in the quality of teaching and supervision but there are comprehensive regulations governing the accreditation of hospitals, credentialing of operations, medical records, etc. to ensure medical and patient safety. Vast amounts of resources are being invested to strengthen the quality and to advance the technology used in patient care, not only by supporting basic and clinical research but also by providing extra resources to “import” experts and help develop services with clinical excellence. To accomplish this, the aim of the “three fames project” with a 5-year funding of 3 million United States dollar is to invite overseas experts to help build medical teams in specific areas. Due to its huge population (more than 1.3 billion people), China is a country full of potential for development in clinical research, collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the provision of premier medical services.
Accreditation ; China* ; Colorectal Surgery* ; Cooperative Behavior ; Credentialing ; Education ; Fellowships and Scholarships ; Financial Management ; Health Care Reform ; Hong Kong* ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Medical Records ; Organization and Administration ; Patient Care ; Patient Safety ; Schools, Medical ; Social Control, Formal ; Specialization ; United States