Quality management and patient satisfaction

Numerous factors determine a good diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Aspects of quality and safety play an important role in this. The Maastricht UMC+ devotes great attention to this area. This relates to very diverse matters such as:

• medication safety
• privacy and patient data
• hygiene
• avoidable harm
• security
• fire safety

Patient satisfaction

Every day, we strive for the best possible care and for health improvements, and therefore for the highest possible patient satisfaction.

We consider quality and safety of paramount importance. We therefore hold numerous certificates, accreditations, and acknowledgements. However, it is always possible to improve, and we therefore continually strive for further improvement. We are and remain critical of our own actions.

The hospital adheres to protocols and prescribed working methods for different actions and treatments. The Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ) regularly inspects us and we hold various quality hallmarks.

Quality care

The Consumer Quality Index (or CQI or CQ index) is a standardised method whereby the quality of care is measured at national level each year from the perspective of the patient. The CQI was introduced in 2006 and comprises a number of questionnaires and a standardised system for data collection, analysis, and reporting. The questionnaire 'CQI for hospitals' has been used in all university medical centres (UMCs) since 2009 for the assessment of client experiences. The survey is performed by MediQuest, an accredited bureau, on the instructions of the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres (Nederlandse Federatie van Universitaire Medische Centra, NFU). The CQI for hospitals comprises two different questionnaires: one questionnaire for patients who had been admitted to hospital for at least one night (CQI for hospital admission) and one questionnaire for outpatients (CQI outpatient care). Every year, more than 100,000 questionnaires are sent out by MediQuest, around 12,500 per UMC.

The individual results are reported to the individual departments, and consequently specific improvement measures can be implemented per department.