POLICY STATEMENT 6.
QUALITY ASSURANCE1
1 Introduction
1.1 The exercise to improve the quality and safety of dental care must embrace the relevant
elements of all established systems within the quality assurance and quality management
spectrum.
1.2 Definitions
1.2.1
QUALITY is the achievement of a standard [of dental practice] consistent with that
practised by recognised leaders of the profession, at a given time period of social,
cultural and professional developments.
1.2.2 QUALITY ASSURANCE is the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects
of service and/ or facility to attain maximum potential that minimum standards of quality
are being obtained.
1.2.3 TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT is an integrative philosophy of management for continuous
improvement of service products and management processes which includes the use
of statistical data, involvement of all staff, a focus on process and the premise that
continual small incremental improvements can be achieved.
1.2.4 CRITERIA AUDIT is a technique for the measurement of the quality of care rendered
against a set of predetermined criteria, with the aim of attaining an acceptable standard.
1.2.5 UTILISATION REVIEW is the measurement of the frequency of occurrence of a particular
service, treatment process or modality.
2 Principles
2.1 Development of quality assurance activities suitable for both private and public sector dentistry
should be encouraged.
2.2 The best environment for monitoring, evaluating and planning for improvement of dental care is
within the profession.
2.3 The direct assessment of patient care by peers should not be seen as the method of choice in
quality assessment.
2.4 Self-assessment programmes should be encouraged, particularly in private practice where the
implementation of more formal review processes is more difficult.
2.5 The standard methods of quality of care audit used in the health professions (i.e. criteria audit,
utilisation review and case review) have some limited applications in dentistry because of the
diverse nature of dental practice.
2.6 Record audits may be included in any audit exercise, but the recalling of patients for examination
is unnecessary in most circumstances.
1
This Policy Statement is linked to other Policy Statement: 5.10 Dental Practice Accreditation
ADA Policy Statement 6.2 Page 1 of 2 November 17/18, 2011
2.7 Patient satisfaction surveys are considered to be relevant to the quality improvement exercise.
2.8 The principles of Total Quality Management are a valid part of any quality improvement system.
2.9 Quality assurance should not be confused with, or override the administration of relevant
legislation and regulations for dental practice.
2.10 Continuing professional development (CPD) is to be encouraged as part of the updating of
knowledge and skills of the practitioner.
2.11 Provision of feedback following a review is seen as an essential part of the quality assurance
process.
2.12 The costs associated with implementation of quality assurance programmes should be minimised
by attention to methodology (i.e. the use of computerised records, the focused audit and the
avoidance of peer review).
2.13 Legislation should provide immunity for declared quality assurance activities conducted by bona
fide accreditors and accrediting agencies.
2.14 The identity of participants in the quality assurance process must remain confidential.
3 Policy
3.1 The principles of Quality Assurance and Total Quality Management when tailored to the practice
of dentistry are applicable.
3.2 CPD activities should focus on proven effective means to improve the quality of the delivery of
dental care and optimum outcomes for patients. As such, the ADA supports any research to
measure the effectiveness of CPD.
3.3 Clinical practice should be evidence-based wherever possible.
3.4 Any dental practice accreditation programme should be evaluated and benchmarked to ascertain
its effect on quality and safety of dental care and improved treatment outcomes taking into
consideration cost effectiveness and impositions on access.
Policy Statement 6.2
Adopted by ADA Federal Council, November 11/12, 2004.
Amended by ADA Federal Council, November 17/18, 2011.
ADA Policy Statement 6.2 Page 2 of 2 November 17/18, 2011
