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week3firstresponse6565.docxImportance of Quality Measures
Quality measures are critical for advance practice registered nurses (APRNs), organizations, and patients; as they are the method used to ensure that APRNs are administering the highest quality of care possible. Quality measures assess the quality of care that is provided by evaluating if the APRN provided the acceptable standard of care, and whether or not the patient was satisfied with their experience and their outcome (Buppert, 2018). Not only are quality measures important to continue to reinforce the importance of the nurse practitioner profession as a whole, they can also determine reimbursement for NPs based on the quality of care the NP provides (Kleinpell & Kapu, 2017). One example of this is The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Value Based Purchasing Program (Kleinpell & Kapu, 2017). This program focuses on certain conditions for hospitalizations in which providers are expected to perform at the highest standard of care; such as the prevention of nosocomial infections, decreasing invasive testing for back pain, and increasing the rate of collecting blood cultures prior to antibiotic administration (Kleinpell & Kapu, 2017). This quality measurement program also focuses on patient satisfaction scores and uses those scores to determine financial reimbursement to the facility (Kleinpell & Kapu, 2017). Quality measures may be used by an organization as a direct measurement of provider performance (Kleinpell & Kapu, 2017).
Performance Measures for NP Productivity
All advance practice registered nurses (APRNs) want to work at a facility where they feel appreciated, valued, respected, and fairly compensated for their work and productivity. A nurse practitioner’s performance may be measured in many different ways depending what organization or persons are measuring their performance. Nurse practitioner (NP) performance may be measured by their employer, peers, patients, government programs, and health insurance companies (Buppert, 2018). Additionally, an NPs productivity is determined by the billing practices and overall goal of the organization they are employed with (Buppert, 2018). The measure of quality is dependent upon which entity is obtaining the measurement, and the goals, values, and expectations of that entity (Buppert, 2018). A recent study indicates that overall job satisfaction is improved when APRNs are offered an incentive plan at their place of employment (Rhodes, Bechtle, & McNett, 2015). This study indicated that incentive plans for APRNs increases productivity, staff meeting attendance, professional development, and patient satisfaction (Rodes, Bechtle, & McNett, 2015).
Opinion on Incentive Payment for Care
Based on research, incentive plans increase job satisfaction and productivity for nurse practitioners (Buppert, 2018). I believe incentive plans are a positive way to ensure that NPs are providing the highest level of care to patients while being reimbursed for the care they provide. Incentive based programs increase the overall morale and productivity of employees (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011). Offering incentives based on the care a NP provides encourages and pushes the APRN to increase and improve their outcomes (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011). An external motivator for improving patient outcomes and NP performance is recognition for high-performing employees (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011). Employees that are recognized by their employers as being high-performing providers have increased job satisfaction and provide better services to their patients, even if they are not rewarded for their actions as a provider (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011). A business plan adopted by many organizations is the Pay-for-Performance incentive model (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011). This model provides financial incentives and reimbursement for providers that have high levels of quality and efficiency without excessive associated costs (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011). The ultimate goal of all incentive-based programs and business models is to promote an environment of high-performance for the APRN and support constant performance growth over the length of their career (Abduljawad & Al-Assaf, 2011).
References
Abduljawad, A., & Al-Assaf, A. F. (2011). Incentives for better performance in health care. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, 11(2), 201-206. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121024/
Buppert, C. (2018). Nurse Practitioner’s business practice and legal guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Kleinpell, R., & Kapu, A. N. (2017). Quality measures for nurse practitioner practice evaluation. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS, 29(8), 446-451. DOI: 10.1002/2327-6924.12474
