Effective Quality Improvement in infectious and inflammatory diseases

The research programme 'Effective Quality Improvement in infectious and inflammatory diseases' aims at improving quality of care in the hospital setting as well as the public health setting, with a focus on infectious and inflammatory diseases.

Attention to quality and effective quality improvement is imperative, since time and again research shows that many patients do not receive the care that they are entitled to according to scientific insights. In our research programme we try to find an explanation for that, while also studying how best to improve care. In our research we do not only study the effectiveness of improvement strategies, but also the conditions that can lead to an improvement in results. An important point of interest are the costs for improvement.   

Effective quality improvement for patients with infectious diseases

Hospital acquired infections can be life-threatening, are a complicating factor for treatment as well as the recovery process, prolong hospital admission and increase healthcare costs. There is a high alertness to treat infections in an optimal way and prevent its spread whenever an acute threat poses itself: when a new infectious disease turns up or when hospital staff enter into combat with a (multi) resistant bacteria. However, future problems caused by transmission of infections and resistance can be limited through better application of present insights into a rational use of antibiotics and an optimal prevention of infections. All research done within the infectious diseases programme focuses on effective quality improvement in care in the following triangle: antibiotic use, prevention of infections and fighting infectious diseases.

Effective quality improvement for patients with inflammatory diseases

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease. Although there is no cure, there are various treatments to suppress the inflammation. The outcome of the treatment opted for needs to be checked on a regular basis and the medication needs to be adapted where necessary. Suboptimal treatment of inflammation can in due course cause damage to the joints and function loss as well as a reduction in quality of life. In daily practice professionals and patients experience a lot of barriers impeding optimum treatment. Research is focused on effective quality improvement in clinical care for patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis.  

Prof.dr. Marlies Hulscher is head of the research programme on infectious and inflammatory diseases within IQ healthcare.