Healthcare Administration - Essay Example

QI Plan Part II Affiliation: Select two to three areas of potential improvement for the health care organization (organization I chose focuses on giving care to individuals with terminal diseases) One of the areas that can be improved in this healthcare organization is the caregiver-patient relationship. This improvement will be good if the clients are to trust their caregivers more. The other area of potential improvement is the recreational services sector. More recreational services can be put up in the organization in order to keep the patients busy and avoid them thinking about their terminal disease often (Buchbinder and Shanks, 2011). Describe the data needed to monitor improvement In order to monitor the above mentioned improvements within that organization data concerning the number of caregivers in that organization is required. The data of the patients in that hospital is also required in order to find out the ratio between the two groups. If for example the number of caregivers is way less than that of patients, then action of hiring more caregivers should be taken. The data about present recreational services within the organization that are functioning as they should be is also needed in order to monitor and facilitate the improvement process. Identify and describe at least three data collection tools you can use to collect performance information, what type of information does each tool collect? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each tool for each area? There are various data collection tools that can be used to collect information about the performance of an organization. Some of the cheaper, easier to use and common ones include questionnaires, interview schedules and also observation records (Axinn and Pearce, 2006). Questionnaires usually collect information that is short and precise including how many caregivers and patients are in the hospital of whether the services were effective or not. The information given is basically structured (yes or no), it is easier to therefore deduce and analyze and also to record. Information from the questionnaire is usually the best in case of a quick performance evaluation because it takes less time. Its weakness is that it has to be filled only by those who are literate, some may get lost in the process of distribution and they require experts to analyze them. The interview schedules collect more in-depth information including the opinion, remarks and other specificities about the performance. The feelings can also be deduced and recorded in the interview schedule. Since they are being filled by experts, anyone can participate without restrictions, the data they collect is also easy to record and analyze since it doesn’t require any technicalities. However those filling in the schedules need to undergo training on how to ask questions and be discrete and this may prove to be time taking and expensive. The use of observation records is very effective when it comes to collecting performance information that is non-verbal. The non-verbal information indicates a lot more than the verbal information as the true performance will be observed and hence not faked or lied about when recording. Those conducting the observation and recording them do not need to be trained, it does not require any questions being asked and hence information it collects is more reliable since it has no biases. On the other hand, this type of data collection method takes time for enough information to be collected about performance and also in the process of recording what has been observed, some non-verbal communication information may be omitted or not observed. How are the data collection tools similar? How are they different? All the above mentioned data collection have their similarities which are based on their advantages especially about them being inexpensive to collect that information compared to other methods not discussed. All these methods require recording and hence they leave evidence that can be shared with other stakeholders of the healthcare organization when trying to find a solution to improve the performance. On the other hand, even though there are similarities among all these mentioned data collection tools above, each tool differs from the other because of the type of information it collects which is different for each of the above mentioned tools. They also differ in the skills and techniques required to analyze them and even skills required to collect information using them. However, all in all their differences make them complementary to each other and hence effective, reliable and efficient when used together to collect information about performance measurement in an organization. Research at least two tools that measure and display the QI data that can be gathered with the data collection tools. What types of information does each tool measure and display? What are each tool’s strengths and weaknesses? One of the tools which display QI data is the run chart which indicates performance of the organization over certain duration of time. The other tool is the flow chart which gives details in sequence of the processes involved in the running of the organization hence making it easy to detect problems or successes in the performance (Provost and Murray, 2011). Using the information from the data collection tools mentioned above like information from the interview schedules and even questionnaire, it is possible to display the quality improvement areas over a period of time and also unveil areas that need more quality improvement. The run chart mostly displays information about historical performance of the healthcare organization since its inception. This is important for comparison purposes and borrowing of ideas from periods when performance was high and avoiding mistakes conducted when the performance was low. This tool is easy to deduce and simplifies information in one simple chart for everyone to understand. However, its analysis and making requires technical expertise and may take a while to complete making the chart. The flow chart on the other hand collects specific details about the running of the organization which makes it easier to see where performance is slacking or where it is improving making it easier to correct and improve performance without much strain. The information being recorded in a sequence makes it also easier for most people to see for themselves the performance of the organization based on its processes. It is however also technical to make and hence may require a lot of time and expertise to do so. How are the tools similar? How are they different? How are these tools helpful for health care organizations? The tools are similar because their making relies on information collected using the earlier mentioned data collection tools. They also require experts to design them and also a bit costly compared to other data collection tools. They however differ in the information they display about performance and hence each of them requires special considerations to be made about how to improve performance and in which specific areas to do so. References Axinn, W. G. and Pearce, L. D. (2006). Mixed Method Data Collection Strategies. London: Cambridge University Press. Buchbinder, S. B. and Shanks, N. H. (2011). Introduction to Health Care Management. New Jersey: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Provost, L. P. and Murray, S. (2011). The Health Care Data Guide: Learning from Data for Improvement. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More