Quality improvement plan Prof Davidson

Introduction

There are several healthcare areas that require improvement, and some of them include health care literacy among patients as well as the underserved population (Grover, 2010). Health literacy refers how well people to that which individuals gain, process, and comprehend fundamental health information and services so as to make suitable health decisions. On the other hand, there are several instances in the healthcare centers where some of the population underserved. For this reason, these two areas require improvement that then contributes to the better provision of services in the healthcare sectors.

Data needed to monitor improvement

The data that is required to monitor improvement of health care literacy among patients include health outcomes as well as the degree to which preventive care used. Low levels of health literacy linked with poor health outcomes and inadequate use of preventive care (Healthcare, 2013).The other data to gather include health care costs and expenditures since patients with low health literacy appear to have elevated healthcare costs and health care expenditures (Grover, 2010). Up to one-half of the US population has inadequate health literacy; aged and low-income persons are most probable to have low health literacy.

Health insurance literacy is also low, mainly among individuals with low incomes. In the case of underserved population, it includes appliance of the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) to data on a service area to gain a score for the area (Healthcare, 2013). The IMU scale ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents totally underserved, and 100 represents top served or least underserved. Under the established criteria, every service area found to have an IMU of 62.0 or less qualifies for description as an MUA (Carnevale, 2012).

Data collection tools

Survey Methodology

The information collected by this Tool includes hospital demographics and characteristics such as facility and service-line provisions, beds, amenities, finance and recruitment of employees (Grover, 2010). All these are important data for evaluating underserved population in the healthcare sector. Similarly, facility and service line provisions enable evaluation of healthcare literacy.

The strength of survey method in health literacy includes a provision of a methodology of programs to include the managers in the whole planning process from collection of data to the expansion of action plans. The weakness of this method involves partiality in the sample (Carnevale, 2012).There is no objective sampling method. The main informants chosen involuntarily may provide a narrow and partial view of the troubles.

The strength of survey in underserved population involves the provision of a foundation for including community leaders in the planning process. On the other hand, the weakness of survey in underserved population involves the need to surmount interview troubles. As numerous people have slight experience in conducting interviews and making practical observations, some preparation is essential (Grover, 2010).

Podcasts

Data collected by podcasts include creation and interpretation of an epidemic curve, a line list and a timeline and management of outbreaks (Healthcare, 2013). The podcasts show how the charts can be functional in NHS boards in the event of a so-called outbreak to help in the prevention, recognition, control and managing of the outbreak.

The strength of podcast in healthcare literacy includes convenience since it is can evaluate literacy of patients in a healthcare organization. On the other hand, the weakness of podcast in healthcare literacy is difficulty in accessibility (Grover, 2010).

The strength of podcast in underserved population involves coverage in that it covers the underserved individuals in any healthcare sector. The weakness of podcast in the underserved population also involves bias in information delivery (Carnevale, 2012).

SAGE

Data contained in SAGE involved collection of household and individual level data on adults in six states and dedicated to vigorously collaborating on extra data collection efforts, and secondary analyzes and comparisons.

The strength of SAGE in healthcare literacy is that it enables patients to present suggestions for present system flaws and future system information. The weakness of SAGE in healthcare literacy is that it is not able to present the information of all the underserved individuals in the health care sector (Carnevale, 2012).

The strength of SAGE in underserved population is that it is robust and involves position-based enrollment automation, and a built-in expansion scheduler (Modern Healthcare, 2013). The weakness of SAGE in underserviced population is that its social functionality and abilities are sternly lacking particularly in terms of social media tools and incorporation with social networks and online channels.

Similarities and differences

The data collection methods are similar in that they all collect data for the first time, but they are different in the manner they present the information (Modern Healthcare, 2013).

Quality improvement tools

Histogram

Information contained in a histogram includes patterns about the number of people served in a health center, number of beds in hospitals and other amenities with relation to the number of patients (Modern Healthcare , 2013).

The strength of histogram is that it offers a summing up of the data and trends in terms of mean, and deviation. Similarly, it offers an easy to understand overview of literacy and underserved populations in a healthcare organization. On the other hand, its weakness involves loss of particular measurements because of grouping. Similarly, falsification of data from groups that is too wide or too narrow such as the underserved population.

Scatter diagrams

Information contained in the scatter diagram includes the relationship between the services offered to the underserved population versus the health outcomes. They also display a relationship between literacy of patients to the health outcomes (Healt hcare, 2013).

Strength and weaknesses

Scatter plots are very useful if a linear correlation between two dependent events identified. The weakness is, one would not be in a position to use them for two unconnected and independent events, as no helpful information could be drawn from them (Modern Healthcare, 2013).

Similarities and differences

Quality improvement tools are similar in that they depict the relationship between variables in the healthcare sector. However, they are different in terms of the number of variables depicted by respective tools (Grover 2010).

Importance in healthcare organization

Used for implementing data collection and performance measurement techniques, and the organizations that integrated their use into QI programs effectively improved their deliveries of care (Carnevale, 2012).

Departments

The most important the department involved in the plan is Department of Health and Human Services since the two areas that need improvement associated with patients (Healthcare, 2013). Similarly, the activities involved in the plan include technical/rational elements such as models methods and tools involved in the plan. The other activity involves social psychology, which refers to how patients respond to change as well as the relations between these two elements.

The reason involved in the plan is that they tackle the issues of patients as well as healthcare providers efficiently. Their role in the implementation of the plan is to identify the areas that require improvement and offer suitable remedies to ensure improvement in the specific areas of health care.

References

Carnevale, A. P., & Georgetown University. (2012). Healthcare. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Center on Education and the Workforce.

Grover, J. (2010). Healthcare. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Healthcare. (2013).

Modern Healthcare. (2013). Chicago: Crain Communications.

Content	Points Available	Points Earned	Comments
· Describes data needed to monitor improvement for 2-3 problematic areas. · Identifies and describes data collection and analysis tools · Explores types of information collected/analyzed by each tool. · Explores strengths and weaknesses of each tool. · Explores similarities and differences. · Discusses QI Activities	6	4.5	Tammy, Overall, a good review of the tools. Application of relevant course materials was too generic – be sure to explore and apply specific concepts in more detail. Paper would have been stronger if you described the data collection/analysis tools in more detail, specific to your identified opportunity.
Organization / Development
· Paper is 1,050 to 1,400 words in length · Introduction provides sufficient background · Conclusion is logical, flows, reviews major points · At least three relevant references are cited	2	2	The introductory paragraph should start with a sentence that engages your readers. This is followed by two or three sentences that provide details about the subject matter. All of these sentences build up to your thesis statement that summarizes the purpose and approach of your paper.
Mechanics
· Paper, title page, reference page, tables, or appendixes, consistent with APA guidelines · Paper is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles, and white space. · Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed; spelling is correct.	2	2	Good use of headers to make transitions easier to follow. A paragraph should be at least 3 sentences in length and explore the topic in sufficient depth. Review APA format for reference list; while seemingly minor attention to detail is important at the graduate level.
TOTAL	10	8.5	I look forward to reading Part 2! Be sure to re-read the “Quality Improvement Plan Assignment Details” document that I posted at the start of the course.

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Be selective with sources – avoid over-using books, popular press and web-based materials– use 3-5 recent articles (no more than 5-6 years old) published in top-tier research journals.