Welcome to NQMC. Skip directly to: Search Box, Navigation, Content.

About > Content Overview > Tool View > Summary

Summary

QualityTools, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, includes the following attributes in a tool's Summary. The table below provides descriptions of each attribute and also represents QualityTools Template of Tool Attributes.

Title Identifies the title of the tool.
Tool Availability Provides the URL to the tool and provides information on how to obtain the tool, if the tool is not directly available from the URL.
Description Provides a thorough description of the tool, including the specific aspect of health care the tool addresses, the tool format, and its uses.
Tool Category Classifies the major health care focus of the tool into one of the following areas:
  • Assessment of Therapeutic Effectiveness
  • Counseling
  • Diagnosis
  • Education
  • Evaluation
  • Management
  • Prevention
  • Rehabilitation
  • Risk Assessment
  • Screening
  • Technology Assessment
  • Treatment
Audience Identifies the user group(s) for whom the tool is intended into one or more of the following user categories:
  • Patients/Consumers
  • Payers/Purchasers
  • Policymakers
  • Providers
Key Features
Patients and Consumers;
Payers and Purchasers;
Policymakers;
Providers		 Highlights the key components of the tool for each audience (user) for whom the tool is applicable.
Target Population
Target Population Age Identifies the age range of the population for whom the tool is intended.
Association with Vulnerable Populations Identifies the group(s) of persons within a vulnerable population for whom the tool is designed.
  • Children
  • Disabled
  • Frail Elderly
  • Homeless
  • Illiterate/Low-literate Populations
  • Immigrants
  • Medically Uninsured
  • Mentally Ill
  • Minority Groups
  • Non-English Speaking Populations
  • Poverty Populations
  • Prisoners
  • Rural Populations
  • Terminally Ill
  • Transients/Migrants
  • Urban Populations
  • Women
Institute of Medicine National Health Care Quality Report Categories
IOM Care Need Classifies the tool into one or more of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) care need classifications:
  • End of Life Care
  • Getting Better
  • Living with Illness
  • Staying Healthy
  • Not within an IOM Care Need
IOM Domain Classifies the tool into one or more of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) care domains:
  • Effectiveness
  • Efficiency
  • Equity
  • Patient-centeredness
  • Safety
  • Timeliness
  • Not within an IOM Domain
IOM Priority Area Classifies the tool into one or more of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) priority areas:
  • Asthma - appropriate treatment for persons with mild/moderate persistent asthma
  • Cancer screening that is evidence-based - focus on colorectal and cervical cancer
  • Care coordination (cross-cutting)
  • Children with special health care needs
  • Diabetes - focus on appropriate management of early disease
  • End of life with advanced organ system failure - focus on congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Frailty associated with old age - preventing falls and pressure ulcers, maximizing function, developing advanced care plans
  • Hypertension - focus on appropriate management of early disease
  • Immunization - children and adults
  • Ischemic heart disease - prevention, reduction of recurring events, optimization of functional capacity
  • Major depression - screening and treatment
  • Medication management - preventing medication errors and overuse of anitibiotics
  • Nosocomial infections - prevention and surveillance
  • Obesity (emerging area)
  • Pain control in advanced cancer
  • Pregnancy and childbirth - appropriate prenatal and intrapartum care
  • Self-management/health literacy (cross-cutting)
  • Severe and persistent mental illness - focus on treatment in public sector
  • Stroke - early intervention and rehabilitation
  • Tobacco dependence treatment in adults
Identifying Information
Sponsor Identifies the organization that sponsors the tool.
Developer Identifies the organization that developed the tool.
Tool Format Classifies the tool into one of the following formats:
  • Action Plans/Goals
  • Algorithm/Flowchart
  • Brochure/Poster
  • Calculator
  • Campaigns/Initiatives/Programs
  • Database
  • Fact sheet
  • Patient Diary
  • PDA/Palm Application
  • Questionnaire/Survey
  • Report
  • Report Card
  • Slide Presentation/Video/DVD
  • Toolkit
  • Wallet Card
  • Web site
  • Workbook/Manual/Guide
Clinical Recommendation Type Classifies those tools that are clinical recommendations or processes into one of the following categories:
  • Benchmarks
  • Guidelines
  • Measures
Related Resources Provides citations to other related resources cited by the developer.
National Guideline Clearinghouse Link Identifies link(s) to guideline summary(ies) in the National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC) if the tool was developed from an evidence-based guideline represented in NGC.
Release Date Identifies the date the tool was published or released to the World Wide Web.
Revision Date Identifies the date of the most recent revision to the tool (if applicable).
QualityTools Status Identifies the date the tool was completed by ECRI.