The Danish National Indicator Project

The Danish National Indicator Project (NIP) measures the quality of care provided by the hospitals to groups of patients with specific medical conditions. The aim is to create awareness in patients, families, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals about the extent to which the completion and outcomes of the treatment are up to the standards which is expected from a well-functioning healthcare service.

In 1999 The Danish NIP was established in the Danish Healthcare System. From 2000 quality standards, indicators and prognostic factors have been developed. The quality of care is now measured for eight diseases:

Acute surgery (bleeding gastroduodenal ulcer and perforated peptic ulcer)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Diabetes
Heart failure
Hip fracture
Lung cancer
Schizophrenia
Stroke
During 2009 there will be developed quality indicators for depression and birth.

It is a basic principle for the project that the development of standards and indicators follows a clear and transparent process. It should be done by health specialists who daily work with the diseases in the clinical practice.

The scientific basis for the project is described in the report Monitoring and Improvement of medical care" published by The Scientific Societies and The Danish Medical Association in cooperation with Aarhus county.

When the results from NIP are available, they are examined by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals involved in treating patients. The objective is to find the areas within the courses of treatment where the quality is already adequate as well as the areas which need to be improved.

abrir aquí:
Introduction