Table 3 Overview of quality improvement methods with perceived advantages and disadvantages

Continuing Education

To keep professionals up to date on the latest advances in their field and to afford an opportunity to explore other areas in this field

There are many types of continuing education for professionals, individually or in groups, like: post-secondary degree programs, professional certifications, independent studies, professional events, on-the-job training, research and online courses

Useful

Acceptable

Difficult to evaluate the impact on QI

Available budget can be a bottleneck

Feedback PREMs and PROMs

To foster improvement and adopt best practices based on patient related outcomes and experiences, and in addition clinical outcomes, to further improve these outcomes

Reports coming directly from patients about how they feel or function in relation to a health condition and its therapy without interpretation by healthcare professionals or anyone else

Excellent in providing easily accessible data from a (national) database

Confrontation of the individual professional

Effort and cost to setup a (national) database

Quality Portfolio

To establish a readable classification at a certain level indicating the quality of the professional on the basis of experience and education

Implementation of a database that shows the relevant experience and education received by each professional

Easy to measure

Uncovers gaps in knowledge and skills

Fast to apply

Knowledge and skills needs to be in good order for proper functioning

Peer Observation and Feedback

To observe each other’s practice and learning from one another, to support the sharing of best practice and build awareness about the impact of your own professional conduct

After a predetermined time period and feedback list the observer may share his/her observations, in the form of a written report accompanied by verbal feedback

Promotion of a culture of feedback and dialogue

Little costs

Hard to measure (more qualitative than quantitative data)

Might be perceived as threatening

360 Degree Feedback

To offer employees more varied multidisciplinary input. To give employees timely recognition and a better understanding how they can improve

A process where the employees receive feedback from peers working closely with them - co-workers, managers, direct reports. The feedback is usually anonymous and completely confidential

Multidisciplinary feedback

Unwillingness to critically appraise multidisciplinary colleagues leading to limited reliability

Management Information System

To provide information for decision making on planning, initiating, organizing, and controlling and to provide a synergistic organization in the process.

The Management Information System design should give, after determining the input to be fed to the system, reports in line with the organization structure and needed outcomes. In this case specifically on critical indicators for hospital-based physiotherapy.

Data already available in other systems

Hard to establish which critical process indicators should be implemented

Intervision with intercollegiate Evaluation

To share problems, questions, concerns with colleagues in order to develop the skills and insights of professionals who try to look for solutions.

A structured method of group consultation. During a meeting one participant is in the centre with a practical situation from his or her work. The participant describes clearly for what aspects he or she wants input (help) from the others

Accepted method

Easy to introduce in work routines

Hard to measure (more qualitative than quantitative data)

Might be perceived as threatening