Key Issues For Quality Improvement Programs

McLaughlin, C.P., & Kaluzny, A.D. (2006). Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care, Third Edition, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, MA.

There are many factors that play a part in deciding who receives short term and long term health care such as an individual’s health and longevity. Health and longevity play a major role because it proves if one is capable or have the capacity to live independent. Long term or short term care is usually caused by the changes in a persons health that result in the decreased ability to care for oneself in daily living such as bathing, cooking, eating, and toileting

Outcomes are used to evaluate care within the realm of healthcare. Advances in the quality of care are related to quality improvement (QI). According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2011), “quality improvement consists of systematic and continuous actions that lead to measurable improvement in health care services and the health status of targeted patient groups” (p. 1). With the desire for excellence, QI is an essential component to the advances in quality healthcare. QI is versatile, for it can be applied to various scenarios, such as a plan of care for ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention.

organizations that have been successful in implementing quality improvement programmes highlight the importance of active involvement of doctors and point to factors such as effective clinical and managerial leadership, preservation of clinician autonomy, support for training, and peer pressure as important in changing attitudes and increasing commitment

The quality of care remains an important element of the care process. Although major improvements have been made within the healthcare, the delivery of quality care has remained questionable. Patients are the source of the important insights on the quality of care, which forms the basis for effective improvement. In addition, the experience of the patients is the basis for understanding the quality of care. Health care can be argued to meet the quality of care standards if the experiences of the patients are positive. Given the important role that patients’ experience is high, other aspects of the care process can be said to be positive (Beattie, Murphy, Atherton & Lauder, 2015). The experience is the view of the patients about the quality of care. The views have an important role to play and should be taken into consideration in the hospital improvement plans. Valid and reliable information on patients’ experience is useful in care improvement plans.

In this paper, I will discuss four elements of the organizational model of health care performance, quality assessment, and management of the hospital in which I work. The first element is about their organizational quality program, goals and structure. Secondly, I will describe the quality improvement projects, selection, methodology, and management. The third element will be on quality improvement training and communication. Lastly, I will discuss how the hospital evaluates QI effectiveness and outcomes.

Quality improvement is a chronologic and formal approach to the evaluation of various practice performance and the realizing different strategies to better the performance (Boyer, Gardner, & Schweikhart, 2012). It involves identifying the change to be introduced, selecting evidence-based strategies, adapting the strategies to the local environment, assessing the barriers to the use of the strategy, selecting and tailoring implementation interventions, monitoring fidelity and use of strategies and sustaining use of plan in the provision of care.

A number of quality improvement methods or models in health care exists, clinical practice improvement (CPI) methodology is one, and it is also known as clinical audit ( National Health Service,n.d.).CPI methodology is used by health care professionals to improve the quality and safety of health care. It is a proven method of quality improvement that gives staff a systematic way of looking at their practice and making improvements. This is done through a detailed examination of the processes and outcomes in clinical care. The most important question to ask when trying to improve the quality and safety of health care is, what is it that needs to be fixed or achieved. This can be done by developing a mission statement or objective that describes

Quality improvement is defined as logical and uninterrupted actions that lead to measurable progress in health care services and the health status of targeted population/patient. it can also be defined as a direct correlation between the level of improved health services and the desired health outcomes of individuals and quality is precisely associated to an organization 's service delivery method.

The lack of quality management and improvement in health care delivery plays a huge role in the deliverance of care, patient satisfaction, and is directly tied to the financial success or failure of the organization. The organization’s responsibilities and problem identification strategies must be identified to understand the connection between the lack of quality management and improvement, and the deliverance of quality health care. Quality improvement and organizational responsibilities include clinical practice guidelines, delivering quality care internally and externally, and an accurate perception of the issue of necessity. From a managed care organizational perspective, clinical practice guidelines are used to set the required standard of care. From this point of reference, quality care is compared and contrasted to verify whether care has or has not met standards (Varkey,

Examining planning for and effectively measuring the health care quality indicators make healthcare quality more transparent and provide information for quality improvement programs and initiatives in the healthcare system.

In healthcare industry customers do have high expectation for service that is delivered to them regardless it is a government or private hospitals. Their expectations are mainly on high quality care as each and every one of us is in favour for quality. However, in healthcare to define quality is rather difficult. The Joint Commission had defined quality as service or care that is being delivered to patient is achieved to the required outcome without resulting in any unnecessary outcomes. In healthcare service quality is also defined as having standards that are based on evidenced based practice incorporated to current practice and knowledge. Over several decades, knowledge and experience is the strength and

The Chronic Care Model (CCM) is an excellent tool that has been implemented among most of the international health policies in developed countries (Singh and Ham, 2006; Kennedy et al., 2007). It is developed by Wagner (1998), which provides a structural framework that guides clinical quality initiatives in improving the care in managing people with LTCs (Coleman et al., 2009). One of the key principles of this model is by promoting safe and high-quality care that is consistent with the research evidence and patients’ preferences (Wagner, 1998). This is to empower individuals to manage their health through support from the healthcare team in facilitating the effectiveness of care (Randall and

Managing quality and safety is vital in order to deliver effective healthcare today. Unfortunately, very little is known about the quality of care due to the fact that there are a variety of definitions used for the term quality (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). This paper will discuss quality management in this country’s healthcare system, some approaches used for quality improvement, as well as the perspectives of quality healthcare from healthcare professionals and clients.

Quality improvement projects are being conducted by organizations to streamline procedures and protocols. QI aimed to enhance the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care services through standardized processes. The improvement is achieved using various methods and strategies. Healthcare delivery is becoming more complex which required for new and enhanced methods that will reduce costs and provide access to new healthcare information technologies.