Applied Sciences Week 9 Assignment: Process Improvement Proposal

Introduction.

UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is the only hospital dedicated to caring for infants, children, teens, and young adults below 26 years in Pittsburgh. Its vision is to be the world leader in children's health, while its mission is to improve the health and well-being of children, teenagers, and young adults through excellence in patient care, teaching, research, and advocacy (UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2023). The hospital's world-class culture allows it to minimize risks and provide quality services to all patients. Some of its

Assessment on the existing regulations and requirements.

Medical malpractice is a significant risk management issue affecting UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Palaniappan & Sellke (2021) suggest that medical malpractice occurs when a medical practitioner fails to follow the due procedure or neglects to provide the appropriate treatment and harm or injure the patient and, in the worst situation, causes death. This indicates that medical malpractice results from a medical error or substandard medicine. Gutorova, Zhytnyi & Kahanovska (2019) found that about 19,000 medical malpractice cases against medical practitioners are filed annually in the US. This shows how severe the matter is; professionally, medical practitioners are liable for any injury or harm experienced by a patient under their care. However, legally, they can be held responsible if a patient is harmed or injured for their irresponsibility.

Some of the regulatory requirements include, first, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The hospital has been providing their medical practitioners with work insurance and maintaining confidentiality of their health information. The hospital has complied with this regulation but faces a risk of data breach from hackers, which can lead to malpractice. The second regulatory is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The hospital has been meeting this regulation by following data security protocols and safeguarding patient information without breach or leakage.

The third regulation is the Medicare Access and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015. This hospital faces a malpractice risk because some medical practitioners are not compensated fairly. The fourth regulation is a medical necessity. The hospital faces this risk but has been complying by documenting all its transactions so that insurance companies, Medicare, or Medicaid only pay for the appropriate medication provided. This has allowed the hospital to avoid malpractices in other healthcare organizations. For instance, they are asking for pay where no treatment was offered. The last regulation is a chain of custody. The hospital will likely face this malpractice by not following all the stipulated medical procedures while running tests.

Strategies to influence, impact, and monitor the needed changes for quality improvement.

The first strategy that the hospital can apply to manage this risk is technology advancement. It can do so by updating its software and security patches regularly. The second strategy that the hospital can use is empowerment. It can do so by training its employees on cybersecurity to note a security threat when it arises. The third strategy that the hospital can apply is reviewing the salaries of its practitioners regularly and separating compensation reviews from performance reviews.

Value proposition.

UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh offers unique benefits to its practitioners. These benefits depend on the term of employment, which ranges from full-time, part-time, to casual. One of the benefits is training and the hospital should capitalize on the same to reduce medical malpractices. Carver, Gupta, & Hipskind (2023) found that medical errors are the third cause of death in the US and 10% of these patients are harmed during medical treatment. Therefore, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh should provide quality training to its practitioners to improve patient outcomes and reduce medical malpractices.

SWOT analysis table

Internal Factor( Strength)

The hospital has competent and experienced medical practitioners. They have specialized in children and youth's healthcare, allowing it to minimize malpractices and provide quality services to patients under 26. This has put the hospital at the top of the list of best children's hospitals in the US.

Pittsburgh should provide quality

training to its practitioners to

improve patient outcomes and

reduce medical malpractices.

Internal factor (Weakness)

The charges for medication and other services are high. The hospital has an online price estimator tool that allows people to approximate the cost of more than 300 services. This indicates how the hospital is capitalizing on its weakness to avoid any form of malpractice, even if it is not a medical error. For instance, incorrect charges to patients

External factor (Opportunity).

The hospital can invest more in technology and update its software to do better in research and science. This is because research and science can allow it to discover more advanced treatment options, train its staff, and minimize medical malpractice

External factor (Threat).

. The last external factor is threats, one of which is strict government regulations. Johnson (2020) suggests that healthcare regulations and standards are necessary. This is true because strict government regulations have allowed the hospital to avoid medical malpractice. After all, it's complying.

Measuring and monitoring.

The hospital should consider various metrics to measure and monitor the issue of medical malpractice. It can do so by randomly auditing how it tests and documents results in its labs. This will allow it to evaluate if all procedures are followed, whereby a practitioner signs and, if necessary, asks for patient consent. The hospital can also conduct an online survey by asking their patients to provide feedback on the quality of services received and how they would like it to improve.

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Legal principles and Ethical considerations.

One of the legal principles is the duty of care and breach of duty. All practitioners must meet all the professional standards and procedures while handling patients and report any complications to avoid engaging in medical malpractice. The hospital should be ethical while taking this risk by maintaining confidentiality, asking for consent where necessary, providing feedback, and communicating effectively.

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