5
GEN50 Monitor and evaluate the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of health care services
Overview
This standard is about working with providers of health care services to ensure that they are delivering the quality of service specified in their contracts. It also includes identifying ways in which the overall quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of health care services can be improved. This standard is for practitioners who are required to commission health care services within their area of responsibility. This involves managing contracts for the delivery of health care services, monitoring the performance of service providers against contracts, evaluating the quality of health care services and identifying improvements, and having the appropriate knowledge and experience to be able to do so competently. It is part of a group of workforce competences about commissioning health care services.
Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies.
Version No 1
Knowledge and Understanding
You will need to know and understand:
- How to use monitoring information to identify where providers are, and are not, meeting contractual requirements
- The importance of ensuring providers understand what is required of them
- The importance of discussing the findings of reviews and evaluations with those concerned in an open and constructive manner, and how to do so
- The importance of receiving complete and accurate monitoring information
- The range of corrective action that can be taken in case of deficiencies in information supplied
- The information required in order to be able to make a fair and valid evaluation of health care services
- The principle of confidentiality: what information may be provided to whom
- The partner agencies in the local area
- The range of suitable providers of health care services in the local area and the services they provide
- The range of key performance indicators required for health care services
- The information required to monitor key performance indicators, the format and the intervals at which the information should be provided
- The importance of agreeing with partner agencies common requirements for performance monitoring information
- How to make an objective and thorough evaluation of the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the health care services
- The terms and conditions of contracts with providers of health care services
- The range of actions providers can take to ensure they meet contractual requirements
- The range of corrective action that can be taken if providers persistently fail to meet their contractual requirements
- The importance of key performance indicators in specifying and assuring the quality of services
- The importance of making comparisons with other comparable services and how to do so
- Ways in which the quality of services can be improved
- The range of health care services
- Recognised good practice in delivering health care services
- Other health care services with which to make valid comparisons of quality and cost-effectiveness
- Local, regional and national authorities and their requirements for reporting
- How to ensure providers are competent to provide monitoring information in the required format
Performance Criteria
You must be able to do the following:
- agree with providers the information required to monitor key performance indicators, the format and intervals at which the information should be provided
- agree with partner agencies common requirements for monitoring information
- ensure providers understand the requirements of monitoring information and are competent to deliver this
- ensure agreed monitoring information meets requirements for reporting to local, regional and national authorities
- obtain accurate and complete monitoring information in the format and at the intervals required
- take corrective action, in the case of difficulties with monitoring information
- analyse the monitoring information supplied to identify where providers are, and are not, meeting contractual requirements for levels and quality of service
- report on the performance of providers to local, regional and national authorities as required
- gather sufficient information to evaluate the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the health care services provided
- make an objective and thorough evaluation of the information in order to form a fair and valid judgement about the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the health care services
- make valid comparisons of quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness with other comparable health care services
- discuss your findings in an open and constructive way with the providers concerned
- use and handle information in ways which maintain confidentiality
- identify and agree with providers ways in which they can improve the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the services they provide within existing contracts
- identify and recommend ways in which the terms and conditions of future contracts should be changed to improve the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of health care services
- report on your evaluation of the quality, outcomes and cost-effectiveness of the health care services to local, regional and national authorities as required
Additional Information
This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health.
This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004):
Dimension: G3 Procurement and commissioning
This standard has replaced DANOS_CB2, HCS_F3, HCS_F6 and HCS_MG9.