Data Review Project Proposal

Name of Institution

Contents Chapter One 3 1.0 Executive Summary 3 1.1 Introduction 4 1.2 Statement of the Problem 4 Chapter Two 5 2.0 Background Literature 5 Chapter Three 7 3.0 Client Value Proposition 7 Chapter Four 8 4.0 Expected Outcomes and Precise Performance Measurement 8 References 9

Patient safety is a collective term for healthcare activities which revolve around prevention, reduction, reporting as well as analysis of medical errors with an aim of providing quality and effective healthcare services. The problem of lack of patient safety has been a major issue in various healthcare organizations, which involve various stakeholders in the sector, i.e., patients, physicians, etc., and which has been a leading cause of deaths among patients. The purpose of this project is to identify all the various instances which result in lack of patient safety, e.g., miscommunication, inaccessibility of information, misdiagnosis, etc. Additionally, this project aims at identifying the various outcomes which result from the instances as well as possible solutions to ensure patient safety.

The data review process to be utilized in this project involves several methods of examination of data, which include, definition of lack of patient safety as a problem, including the various effects as a result of lack of patient safety. Another process to be utilized in data review include literature research and comparison of previous work done relating to patient safety, while assessing on eligibility and quality of findings which is then necessary to combine the results and provide an informative summary of the findings. Nevertheless, data to be collected include all incidents of misdiagnosis, miscommunication and information unavailability, at Goodwill healthcare facility and comparing the data to set guidelines and standards already laid by the various healthcare professional bodies. Findings from the incidents at Goodwill healthcare facility will be effectively utilized in finding long lasting solutions in regards to patient safety and hence improving on quality of healthcare services provided.

I am examining the issue on lack of patient safety which negatively affect patients, healthcare providers as well as other stakeholders in the sector. I would like to examine the lack of patient safety while assessing the problem based on measurements from key performance indicators such as, safety standards for specimen intake, storage and handling of chemicals, specimen processing as well as result reporting as per the National Patient Safety Agency, which highlights various factors attributing to patient safety issues. Such as, miscommunication of pain, shortage of accessible information, non-compliance with treatment, etc. (Health Services and Delivery Research; I. Tuffrey-Wijne; N. Giatras; L. Goulding, 2013)

Nonetheless, this project will be of great value to Goodwill healthcare facility, through the identification of quality and compliance areas which enhance patient safety, which is one of the core values of the organization. Moreover, this project aligns with my future career goals by providing an opportunity for extensive research and potential recommendations relating to patient safety.

Lack of patient safety in healthcare facilities, especially at Goodwill healthcare facility, could result in harm not only to patients but also to their families, healthcare professionals, as well as other stakeholders in the sector. Lack of patient safety could also attract serious lawsuits against the facility which could make the facilities as well as healthcare professionals lose their practicing licenses. Moreover, lack of patient safety could result in deaths among patients and hence the need to ensure safety at all costs, while also aiming at quality improvement (Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Quality of Health Care in America;LT. Kohn ; JM. Corrigan; MS. Donaldson , 2000).

According to (World Health Organization, 2017), a significant number of patients are harmed during the provision and delivery of healthcare. Consequently, patient harm could result in permanent injury, death, or even increased time at the healthcare facility. It is estimated that at least one incident of harm is reported in every 35 seconds. Additionally, patient safety has been associated with low and middle income backgrounds as a result of various factors, e.g., understaffing, overcrowding, poor hygiene, shortage of basic equipment, etc.

The World Health Organization, is committed to improving the quality of healthcare by maintaining and improving patient safety, as laid out in the organization’s mission. Moreover, according to the organization, 15% of hospital expenditure ought to be dedicated towards treatment of safety accidents. Recognition of patient safety as a global challenge by the organization, has made the organization set goals for reducing the level of severe by 50% over 5 years, globally, with various strategic plans which include, creating communication and advocacy strategies, ensuring patients are largely involved in all healthcare aspects, through monitoring and evaluation, etc. (World Health Organization, 2017).

Patient safety is both a leadership and management issue as highlighted by Mark Graban in the book, Lean Hospitals. This source explains patient safety in relation to quality of care, whereby lack of patient safety is attributed to errors, increased waiting time as well as high healthcare costs. The source further explains the need to enhance patient safety through supporting employees and physicians, eliminating roadblocks, creating opportunities for growth and increased revenue, etc. On the other hand, failure to solve on the issue of patient safety would highly result in various consequences e.g., physicians having to be paid for non-value-added work, wasted motion in a hospital setting, overproduction of work, etc. (Graban, 2018).

Often times, one risk resulting to patient harm could subsequently lead to another harm, hence the need to analyze, detect and monitor various incidents of patient harm and error. According to (Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent No. U.S. Patent No. 10,366,790., 2019), misdiagnosis of patient’s condition could result to medication errors, which in turn could result in permanent injury or death to a patient. It is therefore essential to adopt a patient safety processor, which generates patient data, converts and monitors data e.g., laboratory patient information and performing an analysis of occurrences at the given time frames. This ensures reduced medication errors, misdiagnosis, communication errors, etc.

Patient safety has also been associated with healthcare professionals and whether they are efficient in handling patients or not, whereby, they are often categorized as well-being or burnt out, according to (Hall, Johnson, Watt, Tsipa, & O’Connor, 2016). Additionally, 16 out of 27 studies measured for wellbeing found a strong correlation between poor wellbeing and patient safety, while 21 out of 30 studies measured for burnout, indicated an association between burnout and patient safety. This therefore creates the need for healthcare organizations to constantly monitor the wellbeing and mental health of healthcare professionals prior to attending patients. Failure to do so, would constantly and constituently result in errors which could cause death to patients.

According to (Dekker, 2016), there is a great relationship between human factors and patient safety, whereby the major risk relating to patient safety is as a result of individual caregivers and the environment surrounding the caregivers. Therefore, having a thorough analysis and monitoring of caregivers ensures reduced risks which could lead to the lack of patient safety. Moreover, failure to do so could result in incompetency issues which are a major cause of lack of patient safety.

Lastly, patient safety could also be attributed to leadership roles and factors, whereby, according to, between 45% and 94% of registered nurses experience verbal abuse which could be as a result of physical and psychological harm. This therefore encourages the need to investigate the effects of nurse mangers in transformational leadership hence reducing errors caused by mental breakdown of nurses. Nevertheless, nursing leadership is essential in providing high quality patient care and hence the need to regulate the same (Boamah, Laschinger, Wong, & Clarke, 2018).

My project on patient safety will be effective at adding value to the various sectors and departments at Goodwill healthcare facility. First, in terms of business operations, the various processes aimed at enhancing patient safety, will ensure smooth flow of business operations through reducing the patient incidents by 50%. Moreover, my proposed project will ensure a streamline of activities which result in overall improvement of operations. This will be as a result of the potential solutions intended at enhancing patient safety, e.g., constant monitoring of employees as well as equipment to reduce harm. More so, the project will add value to the finance department, through reduction of costs intended at solving medication errors as well as handling of patient safety incidents.

Customer service at Goodwill healthcare facility is expected to improve through the strategic plan which intends to constantly monitor and evaluate nurses as well as other caregivers, with an aim of ensuring that they are mentally and physically fit at providing healthcare services to patients. Additionally, organizational learning and growth is expected to gradually improve as a result of this project, whereby, through the provision of training sessions, employees get a chance to better their skills and hence contribute to overall organizational growth. Moreover, enhancing patient safety ensures that an organization is safe from potential lawsuits against the same and hence foster organizational growth and continuity.

The various data to be collected and analyzed for performance measurement include, safety standards for specimen intake, storage and handling of chemicals, specimen processing as well as result reporting. Safety standards relating to specimen intake will be measured according to the level of accuracy applied to specimen intake as well as whether the physician uses the right and expected amount of specimen. Storage and handling of chemicals as a performance indicator will be measured according to the right and expected temperature conditions intended for storing chemicals as well as whether the chemicals are properly labeled and efficiently accessible by authorized individuals at the right time, as per the National Patient Safety Agency (Health Services and Delivery Research; I. Tuffrey-Wijne; N. Giatras; L. Goulding, 2013).

Measurement of performance from specimen processing will be based on whether the physician gives adequate and required time for specimen processing results to be ready. Lastly, measurement of result reporting as a performance indicator, will be based on accurate diagnosis to the right patient and hence correct medication procedures. These measurement are as per the measurement guidelines in the National Patient Safety Agency. Pie charts would be effective visual displays to summarize the data due to the scope of each data displayed as well as indication of the total percentages. In addition, the use of colors would also be effective to distinguish one performance indicator from the other.

Aspden, P., Corrigan, J. M., Wolcott, J., & Erickson, S. M. (2004). Standardized Reporting. In P. Aspden, J. M. Corrigan, J. Wolcott, & S. M. Erickson, Patient Safety: Achieving a New Standard for Care . THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS, Washington DC.

Boamah, A. S., Laschinger, S. K., Wong, C., & Clarke, S. (2018). Effect of transformational leadership on job satisfaction and patient safety outcomes. Nursing outlook, 66(2), 180-189.

Dekker, S. (2016). Patient safety: a human factors approach. CRC Press.

Graban, M. (2018). Lean Hospitals Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement, Third Edition. Productivity Press.

Hall, H. L., Johnson, J., Watt, I., Tsipa, A., & O’Connor, B. D. (2016). Healthcare Staff Wellbeing, Burnout, and Patient Safety: A Systematic Review. PloS one, 11(7).

Health Services and Delivery Research; I. Tuffrey-Wijne; N. Giatras; L. Goulding. (2013). Chapter 4Literature review. In H. S. Research, I. Tuffrey-Wijne, N. Giatras, & L. Goulding, Identifying the factors affecting the implementation of strategies to promote a safer environment for patients with learning disabilities in NHS hospitals: a mixed-methods study. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2013.

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Quality of Health Care in America;LT. Kohn ; JM. Corrigan; MS. Donaldson . (2000). Creating Safety Systems in Health Care Organizations. In I. o. America, L. Kohn, J. Corrigan, & M. Donaldson, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US);.

Lynn, A. L., & Lynn, N. E. (2019). Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent No. U.S. Patent No. 10,366,790.

Nacioglu, A. (2016, 08 19). As a critical behavior to improve quality and patient safety in health care: speaking up! Retrieved from Safety in Health: https://safetyinhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40886-016-0021-x

World Health Organization. (2017). Patient safety: making health care safer (No. WHO/HIS/SDS/2017.11). Retrieved from World Health Organization: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/255507/WHO-HIS-SDS-2017.11-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y