The Excellence in Ophthalmology certificate was created with the aim of promoting the development of improvement plans that promote good practices in ophthalmology departments, providing tools for the implementation thereof.
For this purpose, a reference project was created to strive for excellence in ophthalmology care in Europe.
The initiative is aimed at generating a cross-sectional and transformational impact in hundreds of hospitals, promoting a programme comprised of specific actions to:
Detect specific needs and value-added opportunities.
Improve the satisfaction of both patients and professionals.
Making people the first priority in healthcare, approaching their needs in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
Promoting ongoing, high-quality training for all healthcare professionals.
Optimising resources and coordination among all departments.
Promoting innovation and digital transformation to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare processes.
Promoting research within the departments.
Improving the efficiency and efficacy of the resources used to provide the best possible care to patients.
Methodology
In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, a platform has been developed that offers a complete self-certification tool in the field of Excellence in Ophthalmology, accessible to all ophthalmology departments.
For this purpose, the initiative has the collaboration of a committee of scientific experts, who have developed and supported a series of indicators that serve as a tool to objectively measure the degree of excellence of the care provided by clinical departments, along with a road map to guide the application of measures for improvement.
The aforementioned indicators have been tested in a pilot programme in hospitals of different countries. This way, any ophthalmology department that wants to know and improve their current standing may register and get certified easily and swiftly to receive an analysis of their areas of improvement and personalised recommendations, as well as access to training for a better implementation of the measures and a comparative review of the results of all the health centres participating in the initiative.
Moreover, if the overall evaluation is positive, the Excellence in Ophthalmology certificate will be awarded, recognising the quality of the department and thus improving its visibility.
The steps to follow to obtain the certificate and the personalised technical report are as follows:
Registration
Registration of the ophthalmology department and the persons responsible for the certification on the platform. An access code is required and can only be obtained by contacting the Bayer personnel, as this company is sponsoring the initiative, or by e-mailing hello@rightcarefoundation.net.
Certification Process
The persons responsible for certification at the department must answer the various Excellence indicators in all 6 categories.
Downloading Results and Benchmarking
Once the certification process has been completed, it will be possible to download the personalised technical report, with an analysis of the situation of the department and suggested measures for improvement. A score will also be provided and the results will be compared with the average score of all the health centres taking part in the project.
Training and Implementation of Measures
On the platform, participating health centres will have access to training material containing relevant information about the three pillars of the Excellence in Ophthalmology certification: quality of care, innovation, and research.
The department is urged to use this material for the implementation of measures for improvement, along with the personalised actions suggested in the technical report.
Delivery of the Excellence Certificate
If the evaluation is positive, the Right Care Foundation´s Excellence in Ophthalmology certificate will be awarded; this certificate is valid for 3 years.
Periodically, a team of specialists from Right Care Foundation will visit certified health centres to verify on site that the indicators have been filled in in accordance with the actual situation of the centre. The hospitals will be selected at random.
