Practice Management Alert

Question: I’m putting together some training materials on quality in healthcare for my practice. Could you please provide some examples of quality controls versus quality assurance?

New Jersey Subscriber

Answer: As you know, quality control is different from quality assurance. Quality assurance is an integrated management system that may encompass planning, training, quality control, data review, reporting, and quality improvement practices. Quality control evaluates an item, process, or service against a standard. Both are important aspects of running a high-quality medical practice.

Here are some examples of quality controls: equipment calibration, reviewing logs to ascertain EMR access, regularly testing fire extinguishers and batteries on smoke alarms, and checking vaccine refrigerators temperatures for accuracy and consistency.

Some examples of quality assurance: Auditing front desk practices to make sure patient information is being entered correctly, verifying that organization policies are up to date and meaningful, and providing training or continuing education for staff.