Clinical outcomes in residential care : setting benchmarks for quality

Abstract

Aim: Australian residential aged care does not have a
system of quality assessment related to clinical outcomes, or comprehensive quality benchmarking. The Residential Care
Quality Assessment was developed to fill this gap; and this
paper discusses the process by which preliminary
benchmarks representing high and low quality were
developed for it.
Methods: Data were collected from all residents (n = 498)
of nine facilities. Numerator–denominator analysis of
clinical outcomes occurred at a facility-level, with
rank-ordered results circulated to an expert panel. The
panel identified threshold scores to indicate excellent and
questionable care quality, and refined these through Delphi
process.
Results: Clinical outcomes varied both within and between
facilities; agreed thresholds for excellent and poor outcomes were finalised after three Delphi rounds.
Conclusion: Use of the Residential Care Quality
Assessment provides a concrete means of monitoring care
quality and allows benchmarking across facilities; its
regular use could contribute to improved care outcomes
within residential aged care in Australia.