Management of quality Systems in Health Services and Social Care

Course Tutors

Sepetis Anastasios

Course Outline

The aim of the course “Management of Quality Systems in Health Services and Social Care” is for postgraduate students to deepen in the concepts and acquire specialized knowledge related to quality management and assurance methods in health and social care services. The main objectives of the course are to improve the skills and abilities of students in organizing quality control and quality assurance programs in these areas, as well as in the application of quality control methods.

The perception of quality requirements by all human resources in health and social care services concerns a system of activities to evaluate the quality of the good / service provided to the customer / user. In these services, in particular, quality assurance policies concern implemented activities based on specific criteria such as organization and staffing, facilities, equipment, documentation, quality management system which is based on a feedback system for recording and producing data, recording errors and conditions for correcting any errors.

The concepts of Quality Control and Quality Management are inseparably linked. Quality Control refers to a system of activities for quality evaluation. Quality Management concerns respectively a system of a) administration and control of activities at all levels (design of good / service, production, distribution and service), b) prevention of quality problems and c) ensuring compliance with the specifications for the goods and services that end up to customers / users. The quality control and assurance systems are also described as accreditation systems for these services and mainly concern: Therapeutic efficacy, diagnostic reliability, protocol adherence, patient management, staff management (staffing, training and responsibilities allocation standards) and administrative functions. 

Upon successful completion of the course postgraduate students will be able to create and further develop:

• A new management concept and culture based on the responsibility of all actors towards the user and the quality of care but also the business culture in resource management and decision-making.
• methods and techniques for the most effective performance of technical-financial functions and resource management using tools that can be applied in individual fields of administration-management of health and social care services (e.g. in procurement, patient movement and bed allocation, staff planning, measurement of financial performance, evaluation of therapeutic efficiency, etc.).
• techniques of ensuring and controlling the quality of the services provided at all stages of distribution of services using new methods and practices that lead to the quality upgrade of services (quality assurance, audit, etc.).