QA CQI

EMS Vehicle

The terms QA (Quality Assurance) and CQI (Continuous Quality Improvement) are being used with increasing frequency in the EMS industry. What do these terms mean to the frontline providers of Prehospital health care?

Barbara Kahan and Michael Goodstadt, of Centre for Health Promotion, University of Toronto (http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/14/1/83.full) describe QA as a rather static program of measuring performance against a minimum standard. This is contrasted by their description of CQI, ‘a comprehensive management philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement by applying scientific methods to gain knowledge and control over variation in work’.

This definition of CQI is an excellent description of the QA/CQI program of the Durham Base Hospital Program. Our goal is the continued improvement of system performance. To achieve this goal we use a variety of tools, one of these is the QA tool – ACR audits. We review ACRs and measure them against the standards of BLS/ALS patient Care Standards and our Medical Directives. Other tools come in the form of various CQI reports.