Under the direction of the Health Care Financing Administration, the authors conducted a project to determine quality standards for health services to deaf and hard of hearing adults. Using a modified Delphi approach, the project used two expert panels to develop the standards. An initial expert panel of people selected from a national pool interacted via e-mail to propose a set of standards. Panel members were selected to represent a range of professional and consumer interests. These standards were then presented to a second panel for validation. Vignettes were collected from both consumers and providers regarding personal experiences with hearing impairment and health care. These vignettes were collated with the proposed standards to clarify the clinical and human relevance of the standards. Finally, following the validation phase, interviews were conducted with health care providers in a range of settings to gather information regarding the perceived burden of the proposed standards. The results will be presented to HCFA the summer of 2000 for evaluation and potential incorporation into QISMC and Medicare.
Learning Objectives: Learn how quality standards were developed for services to deaf and hard of hearing; Learn the quality issues as seen by deaf and hard of hearing patients
Keywords: Deaf Patients, Quality Improvement
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.