A basic principle of quality measurement is: If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2013).
Health care providers are on an endless quest to improve both care quality and patient safety. This unwavering commitment requires hospitals and care givers to increase their attention and adherence to treatment protocols to improve patient outcomes. Health informatics, along with new and improved technologies and procedures, are at the core of virtually all quality improvement initiatives. The data gathered by providers, along with process improvement models and recognized quality benchmarks, are all part of a collaborative, continuing effort. As such, it is essential that professional nurses are able to correctly interpret, and effectively communicate information revealed on dashboards that display critical care metrics.
Reference
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2013). Preventing falls in hospitals. Retrieved from https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/hospital/fallpxtoolkit/fallpxtk5.html#tiptop
Instructions
In this assignment, you will propose a quality improvement initiative proposal based on a health issue of professional interest to you. The QI initiative proposal will be based on an analysis of dashboard metrics from a health care facility. You have one of two options:
Option 1
If you have access to dashboard metrics related to a QI initiative proposal of interest to you:
Analyze data from the health care facility to identify a health care issue or area of concern. You will need access to reports and data related to care quality and patient safety. If you work in a hospital setting, contact the quality management department to obtain the data you need.
You will need to identify basic information about the health care setting, size, and specific type of care delivery related to the topic that you identify. You are expected to abide by standards for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Option 2
If you do not have access to a dashboard or metrics related to a QI initiative proposal:
You may use the hospital data set provided in the Vila Health: Data Analysis presentation to identify a health care issue or area of concern.
You will follow the same instructions and provide the same deliverables as your peers who select Option 1.
The bullet points below correspond to grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your proposal is, at minimum, addressing each of the bullets. You may also want to read the Data Analysis and Quality Improvement Initiative Proposal Scoring Guide to better understand the performance levels that relate to each grading criterion. Additionally, be sure to review the Guiding Questions: Data Analysis and Quality Improvement Proposal document, linked in the resources, for additional clarification about things to consider when creating your assignment.
Analyze data to identify a health care issue or area of concern.
Outline a QI initiative proposal based on a selected health issue and supporting data analysis.
Integrate interprofessional perspectives to lead quality improvements in patient safety, cost effectiveness, and work-life quality.
Apply effective communication strategies to promote quality improvement of interprofessional care.
Communicate evaluation and analysis in a professional and effective manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Integrate relevant sources to support arguments, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.
Cite a minimum of five sources (no older than seven years, unless a seminal work) of scholarly or professional evidence to support your evaluation, recommendations, and plans.
