From measurement to implementation. Fifteen years prevalence measurements
The Dutch national prevalence measurement of care problems (LPZ) was founded in 1998. It is an annual measurement of the prevalence, prevention, treatment and structure indicators of some relevant care problems in different health care sectors.
In the LPZ all patients of the participating organizations are assessed by two caregivers at the same day. After the measurement each organization receives an overview of its results, together with the aggregated results of comparable organizations for benchmarking. The overall effect of the measurement is that during the years the prevalence of several care problems, such as pressure ulcers and malnutrition, has been reduced. So, the LPZ is not only a monitor of care problems, but stimulates also activities towards improvement of the quality of care. Nowadays, tools and examples of best practices are offered to the organizations to support them in improving their quality of care. Since a few years the LPZ is also conducted in other countries, incl. Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand. Using the same LPZ- instruments and methodology, provides unique possibilities to compare relevant aspects of care problems within and between countries.