Community Quality Assurance Committee

Working together to ensure quality healthcare.

Over the course of medical treatment, a patient will interact with many providers and institutions – from the ambulance ride, to the emergency room and its independent physicians, to a hospital stay, referral to specialists, and ongoing outpatient care. While patient privacy laws are important to protect sensitive information, these laws sometimes hamper coordination between independent entities.

A Quality Assurance Committee enables medical and social service providers from independent entities to discuss cases to identify systemic gaps in the delivery of care. Everyone involved in treating a patient can openly discuss what went wrong and what can be improved.

Such quality assurance committees are well established in law and practice within single entities, such as a hospital. Community First worked to establish the framework in Hawaiʻi law which allows and protects case discussions among representatives from independent entities.

Through Community First’s work, a Community Quality Assurance Committee was formed with the following organizations to provide a more seamless continuum of healthcare:

We believe the Community Quality Assurance Committee will provide the feedback loop needed for the community to develop a more supportive, more seamless continuum of medical services on Hawaiʻi Island.