Running head: QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTHCARE
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Quality Improvement in Healthcare
BUSI 511
Group 2
Running head: QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTHCARE
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Introduction
Quality improvement in healthcare is fundamental in shaping the perceptions of patients
and even investors towards healthcare delivery. Patients and their families are pursuing quality
and effective medical care. An understanding of this need by healthcare facilities has
necessitated the incorporation of quality improvement techniques or aspects such as efficiency,
patient-centeredness, timely, reliable, and equitable healthcare. Healthcare systems seek to
satisfy patient needs and increase positive outcomes through quality improvement. Quality
improvement in healthcare is significant in fostering patient-centered and effective care (Allen,
2016). Patient safety is at the core of healthcare delivery to ensure that care is administered in a
manner consistent with patient requirements.
Healthcare providers are required to pursue further education and training to enhance
their understanding of the evolving healthcare system requirements. Quality improvements seek
to address client needs and ensure that resources are optimally utilized (O'Rourke & Fraser,
2016). Technology has enhanced the delivery of healthcare and is a component of quality
improvement. Healthcare systems have since been transformed because diagnostics, records of
patient data, and charting a patient's progress have advanced. Quality improvement plays a
central role in eliminating medical errors and reducing readmission rates. Quality improvement
in healthcare, therefore, plays a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the
healthcare system.
Thesis Statement: The participation in healthcare quality improvement is essential to the
achievement of goals for health systems.
Questions Being Addressed: (500 – 750 words)
a. Why is quality improvement important in healthcare?
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b. What are the current requirements of healthcare quality improvement?
c. What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing quality improvement
methodology in the health care setting?
d. How do electronic health records (EHR) influence quality improvement in
healthcare?
e. What impact does nurse training and education haveon attaining quality improvement
standards in healthcare?
f. How does quality improvement reduce medical errors and readmission rates?
I. Introduction. (500 – 750 words)
a. Defining what is quality improvement in healthcare
b. Present the questions to be addressed
c. Describe how quality improvement is utilized in healthcare
d. Provide an overview of research conducted
e. Introduction of thesis statement
II. Why is quality improvement important in healthcare? (750 – 1250 words)
a.Quality improvement (QI) is the foundation of excellence in the care and services
provided to patients, staff, vendors, and customers. Quality is the description of how well
an organization is meeting the needs and expectations of their customers. Without QI
meaningful resources will be wasted and valued goals will be left unachieved.
1. Quality improvement is a means to fulfill regulatory requirements. It is also the
goals of QI to increase customer satisfaction, productivity, profits, and teamwork.
2. Total Quality Management (TQM): The philosophy of continuous quality
improvement, beyond the initial goal. TQM is a strategic, integrated management
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system which involves all managers and employees and uses quantitative methods
to continuously improve.
b. In healthcare, quality improvement works effectively to enhance and drive desired
clinical practice improvement.
1. Quality improvement measures are used to increase efficiency, effectiveness,
and improve patient outcomes. There is an emphasis on the needs of top down
leadership and participation for continuous improvement.
2. The training and education of staff surrounding quality improvement methods
is instrumental in the effectiveness of quality improvement.
III. What are the current requirements of healthcare quality improvement? (750 – 1250
words)
a. The aggregation of data and information must be meaningful and useful.
1. Data collection planning must include a design structure, sampling method, and
ensure that the right amount of data is collected.
2. The Institute of Medicine has introduced six aims for healthcare improvement:
safety, effectiveness, patient centered, timely, efficiency, and equitable. Having
valuable data to demonstrate performance opportunities further supports quality
improvement efforts.
b. Inclusion of personnel and key stakeholders is a must for quality improvement to be
effective and influential of outcomes.
1. Quality improvement teams must include frontline caregivers and key
stakeholders across disciplines. Strong facilitation is also needed.
2. Supporting facts (cite resource)
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IV. What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing quality improvement
methodology in the health care setting? (750 – 1250 words)
a. Advantages of implementing quality improvement methodology in the health care
setting.
1. 1. Improves safety within healthcare organizations.
i. “In 1999, the Institute of Medicine published statistics that an
estimate of 44,000 to 98,000 Americans died because of health care
failures and errors” (Aibar et al., 2014, p. 945).
2. Health care organizations are more effective.
i. According to Bastian et al. (2015), to improve healthcare value in the
United States, healthcare organizations must create an effective
workflow.
3. Provides cost-effective measures for the health care organizations and
ultimately allows them to be more efficient.
i. Estimated 99.3% of the healthcare organizations and physician
practices in the study had implemented at least one quality
improvement methodology to improve the healthcare organization to
make the workflow process more efficient and cost effective
(Alhazme et al., 2016).
b. Disadvantages of implementing quality improvement methodology in the health care
setting.
1. What works for one health care organization may not work for all health care
organizations (Allen, 2016).
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2. Limited infrastructure to support large scale quality improvement (Braudrud et
al., 2017).
V. What impact does technology have on healthcare quality improvement? (750 – 1250
words)
a. Technology advances has improved healthcare quality improvement through better
communication in the healthcare field.
1. Digitalization of patient care charting.
i. “As part of the Title XIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009, medical institutions must convert to electronic medical
records for patient care documentation” (Steffens et al., 2015, p. 237).
ii. Patient electronic medical records can share medical records with
physicians through software programs such as EPIC (Steffens et al.,
2015).
2.Medical providers can view patient medical records from other healthcare
organizations through a records share feature (Steffens et al., 2015).
b. Technology has resulted in faster turnaround times for patients.
1. Technology advances in the laboratory’s diagnostic equipment has resulted in
faster administration of treatment and timely infection control intervention (Clark
et al., 2016).
VI. What impact does nurse training and education have on attaining quality improvement
standards in healthcare? (750 – 1250 words)
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a. There is increased demand for better healthcare by keener competition, further
healthcare regulations, and personnel competence as ways that nurses can exercise the
delivery of care that is safe and efficient(Zurlo & Zuliani, 2018). Nurse training is
dictated by the quality of infrastructure, personnel competence, and operational system
efficiency.
1. Having a patient-oriented system depends on the extent of nurse training in
addressing patient needs both efficiently and satisfactorily (Zurlo & Zuliani,
2018).
2. The ability to improve patient care is centered on the duties of healthcare
providers (Zurlo & Zuliani, 2018).
b. Trained personnel deliver high-quality care to patients since these professionals
understand patient needs and the significance of satisfying them (Morley & Cashell,
2017).
1. The outcomes eventually become desirable because of the commitment and
passion that trained personnel have towards their duties.
2. An increase in training programs and the improvement of already existing
programs should be prioritized.
VII. How does quality improvement reduce medical errors and readmission rates? (750 –
1250 words)
a. Healthcare facilities have had to withstand the challenge of elevated medical errors and
readmission rates. These aspects are costly to operations and tend to interfere with the
roles that medical professionals to ensure the best care is delivered to patients (Upadhyay,
Stephenson, & Smith, 2019).
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1. The quality of patient care can decline due to medication errors, the use of
medical devices, and data reporting. Healthcare professionals must demonstrate
their abilities, skill, and experience to ensure they can effectively manage an
illness.
2. Quality improvement defines the standards of care that should be administered
to patients to attain positive outcomes (Zurlo & Zuliani, 2018). However, these
standards are usually not met because of incompetent professionals in healthcare
systems.
b. Readmissions are reduced by improved discharge processes and ensuring they are
patient centered. The special concern of medical professionals is to ensure medical
reconciliation, improved coordination of the patient with providers in the community as
well as self-management capabilities (Ruggiero, Smith, Copeland & Boxer, 2015).
1. Quality improvements guarantee an improved procedure that ensures discharge
is not the need for interacting or assessing the patient. Discharge processes should
only be the beginning of presuming full recovery among patients.
2. Healthcare personnel, especially nurses should portray dedication to follow up
a patient’s progress and determine any need for further care or declare a recovery.
Medical errors occur because healthcare personnel do not consider it as their
responsibility to routinely monitor a patient after discharge.
VIII. Conclusion/Recommendations. (500 – 750 words)
Healthcare is fast evolving, and quality improvement is enhancing patient safety and
effectiveness. Quality improvement has improved the delivery of healthcare by ensuring the
standards of care are within or surpass the anticipated limits. Technology has improved how care
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is administered by facilitating the process of accessing treatment and influenced patient
outcomes. Quality improvement is instrumental in attaining patient safety and enhancing
effectiveness in the delivery of care. The widespread readmission rates and medical errors in
healthcare systems have reduced as a result of quality improvement. Healthcare professionals
have become more cautious when delivering healthcare to patients. As such, the quality of
healthcare has improved because it is consistent with patient needs.
The core elements of quality improvement are equitable, reliable, timely, and patient-
centered care in healthcare systems. Training and education for nurses enhance the quality of
care and improves the perception of investors towards the delivery of healthcare. Quality
improvement should explore further on the best ways to eliminate medical errors and avoid
medical negligence when administering treatment to patients. It should dictate how healthcare
professionals administer care in terms of quality and effectiveness. Also, quality improvement
should evaluate patient feedback as a means to ensure that care is consistent with the
expectations. Patient feedback will enable healthcare systems to improve how care is offered and
the influence that patient information has on the eventual outcome.
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