OBJECTIVE: To provide the experience and demonstration for the transformation of acupuncture-moxibustion techniques standards from Chinese national standards to international standards. METHODS: Questionnaire research, literature research, semi-structured interviews and expert consultation were used. RESULTS: The safety of acupuncture-moxibustion techniques was evaluated through literature research, and based on the results of the questionnaire survey, expert interviews, and expert consultation, 11 main bodies and structure of the former Chinese national standard, Technical Benchmark of Acupuncture and Moxibustion: General Rules for Drafting, were adjusted and optimized in accordance with the requirements of international standard (including the language, normative references, purpose, scope, applicable environment, target population, work team, terms and definitions, general principles and basic requirements, structural elements and text structure, and compilation process); and the first international standard, World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societis (WFAS) Technical Benchmark of Acupuncture and Moxibustion: General Rules for Drafting was formulated to specify the general rules for drafting. CONCLUSION The 3 key questions, "international compatibility", "technical operability" and "safety" should be solved technically on the basis of explicit international requirements. It is the core technical issue during transforming the national standards of technical benchmark of acupuncture and moxibustion into international standards.
Moxibustion/methods* ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Translational Research, Biomedical/standards* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; China ; Benchmarking/standards*

Data quality management system is essential to ensure accurate, complete, consistent, and reliable data collection in clinical research. This paper is devoted to various choices of data quality metrics. They are categorized by study status, e.g. study start up, conduct, and close-out. In each category, metrics for different purposes are listed according to ALCOA+ principles such us completeness, accuracy, timeliness, traceability, etc. Some general quality metrics frequently used are also introduced. This paper contains detail information as much as possible to each metric by providing definition, purpose, evaluation, referenced benchmark, and recommended targets in favor of real practice. It is important that sponsors and data management service providers establish a robust integrated clinical trial data quality management system to ensure sustainable high quality of clinical trial deliverables. It will also support enterprise level of data evaluation and bench marking the quality of data across projects, sponsors, data management service providers by using objective metrics from the real clinical trials. We hope this will be a significant input to accelerate the improvement of clinical trial data quality in the industry.
Benchmarking ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Data Collection ; standards ; Information Storage and Retrieval ; standards ; Quality Control

Nephrectomy is the cornerstone therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and continued refinement of the procedure through research may enhance patient outcomes. A national nephrectomy registry may provide the key information needed to assess the procedure at a national level. The aim of this study was to review nephrectomy data available at a population-based level in Australia and to benchmark these data against data from the rest of the world as an examination of the national nephrectomy registry model. A PubMed search identified records pertaining to RCC nephrectomy in Australia. A similar search identified records relating to established nephrectomy registries internationally and other surgical registries of clinical importance. These records were reviewed to address the stated aims of this article. Population-based data within Australia for nephrectomy were lacking. Key issues identified were the difficulty in benchmarking outcomes and no ongoing monitoring of trends. The care centralization debate, which questions whether small-volume centers provide comparable outcomes to high-volume centers, is ongoing. Patterns of adherence and the effectiveness of existing protocols are uncertain. A review of established international registries demonstrated that the registry model can effectively address issues comparable to those identified in the Australian literature. A national nephrectomy registry could address deficiencies identified in a given nation's nephrectomy field. The model is supported by evidence from international examples and will provide the population-based data needed for studies. Scope exists for possible integration with other registries to develop a more encompassing urological or surgical registry. Need remains for further exploration of the feasibility and practicalities of initiating such a registry including a minimum data set, outcome indicators, and auditing of data.
Australia ; Benchmarking ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*surgery ; Guideline Adherence ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/*surgery ; Models, Theoretical ; Nephrectomy/*standards/*statistics & numerical data ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; *Registries ; Treatment Outcome

Benchmarking ; China ; Humans ; Public Health Administration ; standards

AIMTo improve workflow and usability by introduction of a new electronic patient record (EPR) and database.

METHODSEstablishment of an EPR based on open source technology (MySQL database and PHP scripting language) in a tertiary care andrology center at a university clinic. Workflow analysis, a benchmark comparing the two systems and a survey for usability and ergonomics were carried out.

RESULTSWorkflow optimizations (electronic ordering of laboratory analysis, elimination of transcription steps and automated referral letters) and the decrease in time required for data entry per patient to 71%+/-27%, P<0.05, lead to a workload reduction. The benchmark showed a significant performance increase (highest with starting the respective system: 1.3+/-0.2 s vs. 11.1+/-0.2 s, mean+/-SD). In the survey, users rated the new system at least two ranks higher over its predecessor (P<0.01) in all sub-areas.

CONCLUSIONWith further improvements, today's EPR can evolve to substitute paper records, saving time (and possibly costs), supporting user satisfaction and expanding the basis for scientific evaluation when more data is electronically available. Newly introduced systems should be versatile, adaptable for users, and workflow-oriented to yield the highest benefit. If ready-made software is purchased, customization should be implemented during rollout.

Andrology ; organization & administration ; Benchmarking ; Databases as Topic ; standards ; Ergonomics ; Germany ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records Systems, Computerized ; standards ; Outpatient Clinics, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Systems Analysis ; User-Computer Interface ; Work Simplification ; Workload ; statistics & numerical data

Seeking to understand patient perspectives is an important step in the efforts to improve the quality of health care. Developed by the EQuiP Task Force on Patient Evaluations of General Practice Care, the EUROPEP instrument aims to collect information on patient evaluations of general practice care. In order to expose the current state of patient satisfaction and make international comparisons, a study was conducted with relevant data collected from Turkey. The Turkish version of the EUROPEP instrument was administered to 1160 patients in six different Turkish cities. Thirty-three medical practices were included in the study. In every practice, a minimum of 30 adult patients who visited the practice for a consultation were consecutively included. The results were compared with previous values from European countries. "Helping you understand the importance of following his or her advice", "Getting through to the practice on the telephone", and "Providing quick services for urgent health problems" were evaluated best (76.7%, 76.3%, and 76.2%, 'good or excellent' ratings, respectively) and "Helping to deal with emotional problems related to the health status" was rated the worst (60.2%, 'good or excellent'). Other areas which had low ratings were: "Waiting time in the waiting room" (63.0%), "Quick relief of symptoms" (61.3%), and "Involving patients in decisions about medical care" (61.3%). Patient evaluations can help to educate medical staff about their achievements as well as their failures, assisting them to be more responsive to their patients' needs. In order to get the best benefit from EUROPEP, national benchmarking should be started to enable national and international comparisons.
Adult ; Benchmarking ; Comparative Study ; *Culture ; Europe ; Evaluation Studies ; Family Practice/*standards ; Female ; Human ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Patient Satisfaction ; *Quality of Health Care ; *Questionnaires ; Registries ; Turkey ; Urban Population