Benchmarking and Trending Health Data - Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami - Research Proposal Example

Project analysis al Affiliation) Contents Introduction 4 Objective of the project 4 The scope and aim of the project 4 Justifications 5 Research 6 Sources of data 6 Data analysis 7 Methodology 7 Benchmarking and Trending Health Data 7 Enterprise Data Warehouse 7 Kaizen Blitz 8 Implementation 9 Purpose 9 Problems 10 Project Recommendation 10 Long-term recommendation 10 Impact of the project recommendation 11 Results 12 Medium used to show the result 12 Impact of the project 13 Reference 14 Introduction The study will focus on Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. The purpose of this study is to discuss ways for Jackson Memorial Hospital to improve its revenue. The hospital commits to the process enhancement, innovation, and quality advancement to enhance patient access. Hospitals bear the blunt of bad debt since the likelihood that patients will pay once they are discharged is low. The study will strive to afford a number of recommendations that will foster a successful revenue cycle management and analysis. The study will provide the solutions to patient revenue management by focusing on ways of transforming patient flow into a positive economic outcome. Objective of the project The objective of the study to provides ways of increasing the hospital’s revenue, reducing the patient waiting time, and eliminating the movement of patients within the hospital precincts. It is achievable through the alleviation of the average waiting time the patient held at the emergency department. The study will focus on the entire process from the reception of the patients’ admit orders to their discharge from the hospital. The scope and aim of the project The Jackson Memorial Hospital is experiencing declining cash flow, its margin is tightening, and its bad debt is on the rise. The study will analyze the various gaps existing in the hospital to improve its revenue cycle management. In addition, the study will provide a yardstick for the entire Jackson Memorial Hospital, as well as other hospitals that are seeking ways to improve their revenue cycle. The project will incorporate the Kaizen Blitz measure to implement the change. At the end of the study, an increase in patient flow should translate to a revenue increase in the long term. The reduction in the average waiting time will ensure that the patients are not held in a single department for long. The hospital employees also stand to gain from the job satisfaction. The patients are transferred from the emergency department to other departments at the time that suits the work schedule of the employees. In addition, the reduction in the average waiting time will fasten the movement of patients from one department to another. The issue of health care system restructuring has received unwavering attention from the U.S. government. Jackson Memorial Hospital is concerned about the fall in the hospital’s revenue due to reduced patient flow. The hospital management has identified the amount of waiting time that the patients experience as a primary concern. As a result, patient satisfaction decreases as they wait the referral to other departments. The patients are safer in other departments where they can receive specialized treatment than in the emergency wing. The management has decided to take a proactive initiative in addressing this issue. In addition, the employees are also eager to be part of the changes in the revenue cycle and patient workflow. However, there are several challenges facing the process. Justifications In the past, hospitals did not have to focus on market competition. For this reason, hospitals lag behind other industries in the adoption of measures that can improve their processes; hence, improving patient access and revenue. Today, hospitals have enhanced their competitiveness since they have to ensure that the insurance companies cover their patients (Reschovsky & O’Malley, 2008). There are several hospitals coming up to provide decent health care to the growing population. The competition lies on price and quality. Such competitions have two consequences. They push the price of health care upwards and provide an incentive to the hospital to provide an optimal level of quality health service. Scholars agree that competition forces hospitals to provide quality health care at a lower price (Reschovysky & O’Mailey, 2008). As a result, the patients stand to gain immensely. However, for hospitals to improve the quality of health service, they first must institute ways to improve the patients flow. As a result, this will lower the cost and enhance the patient and the employee satisfaction. In addition, public hospitals such as the Jackson Memorial are trying to keep up with the government process of restructuring the health care system since it will result in additional costs. Most hospitals are slow in the adoption and implementation process. As a result, they fail to keep up with the rising demand for their services. For instance, the growing population in United States due to the increasing immigrant population presents a significant challenge to most hospitals (Reschovysky & O’Malley, 2008). As a result, their patient flow processes are ineffective. In Jackson Memorial Hospital, the average time for patients ‘admission is approximately six hours. Research Sources of data The data for the study sources from the emergency department of the Jackson Memorial Hospital. In addition, other departments involved in the entire improvement process will supply the relevant data for undertaking the project. The data will encompass the hospital financial records and average patient waiting time in the emergency department. In addition, it will also include the total time taken from admission to discharge or transfer to other departments. However, there are flaws expected from the data; this is because the data is not standardized. Therefore, a number of steps are significant to ensure that the data obtained is standardized. Data analysis The Kaizen Blitz is both a qualitative and quantitative measure of data analysis. The qualitative test will involve interviewing the nurses and the department heads on how the implementation process will improve the job performance. On the other hand, the quantitative test will require the computation of the improvement percent, the amount of time saved and test for establishing the effectiveness of the changes. Data on the hospital occupancy rate and flow capacity is also relevant for this study. The data is obtainable from the Bureau of health statistics. Methodology Benchmarking and Trending Health Data The hospital can increase it revenue by benchmarking its health data. The benchmarking process will help the company identify areas to improve its revenue cycle. Trending and benchmarking of health data is achieved using the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW). An Enterprise Data warehouse merges clinical data, financial data, human resource data, and the patient satisfaction scores. These data are available in the IT system. Benchmarking data are essential in making comparisons with other health systems. The Health Financial Management Association is the most commendable and economical tool that provides benchmarking data. It sets the hospital industry standards for revenue cycle excellence. Enterprise Data Warehouse An Enterprise Data Warehouse enables the extraction of health data, discover the loopholes, and determine ways of making improvement. The process should be done in a conducive environment. At the end of the workflow analysis, the loopholes that results to the loss of the Hospital’s revenue will be discovered. Kaizen Blitz The Kaizen Blitz methodology is appropriate for this study since it takes a short time. The Kaizen Blitz process works in favor of the employees. The process allows employees to effects the changes every time the method applied. The primary objective is to enhance performance through teamwork. It also incorporates employee’s ideas since they are also part of the process. For the changes to be implemented it requires a team of six to ten employees from all the departments. The measurements of the whole process are computed both at the beginning and at the end of the process. The participants are briefed in advance before the process begins. The briefing covers topics such as the reduction of waste and the process flow blueprint, continuous improvement. Providing an example of other Blitzes may help further the understanding of the idea. The participants should not be involved in their usual activities during the entire process. However, if it is inevitable the participants may have to step aside, and the results may not be appealing. The briefing process should not consume a lot of time though it is important to start when all the participants are well informed. The data records will be collectible once the process is complete. Later, the performance and the timing of the actual process is done while observations are made, and the workflow is mapped. A documentation of all the suggestions for improvements, as well as a description of beneficial and non-beneficial activities, is done. Long-term proposals do not contribute much during the Blitz; however, the records are equally important. The next step involves implementing the suggestion for the new workflow and identification of the limitations. Later, an estimate of the total time taken by the new workflow is provided. Results from each sub-group are merged to form the whole workflow system. The workflow system provides a plan of action for changing the workflow, and it should be reviewed cautiously. The new workflow is then measured, results are recorded, and the performance improvement computed. The long-term objectives are analyzed, and each participant receives a copy of the outcome. The results are reviewed, and each participant is given a task that reflects on the long-term objectives. A number of benefits arise from the use Kaizen Blitz. For instance, the results are achieved within a short time, and it reveals other areas that need improvement. In addition, the Kaizen Blitz process empowers the employees and fosters the bond among employees from different departments. Implementation The participants will be introduced to the facilitators of the Kaizen Blitz process. Each participant will be given a copy detailing the purpose, rules, objectives, and the shortcoming of the Blitz process. In addition, the participants will be briefed on; how to map the current process, the data to collect, and how the patients are integrated into the process. All loopholes of the current process will be identified, the blueprint of the ideal process will be analyzed, and the initial projects will be identified. Purpose Kaizen Blitz aims at increasing the flow of patients while at the same time increasing the revenues of the hospital. As a result, the patients receive the best possible care in an apt setting. Kaizen Blitz focuses on reducing the time from receipt of the admitting order from the emergency department to the admission of the patient. The target time of the process is 60 minutes or less. Problems A number of problems may hinder the implementation of the process. A half of the admissions occur during the early hours. On the other hand, 50% of discharges occur in the afternoon. As a result, there is a discrepancy since there are few unoccupied beds in the morning hours. In addition, Outpatients using inpatients facilities minimize the number of beds available hence, the inpatient are forced to wait in the emergency department. Project Recommendation The hospital should incorporate registration and accounting workflows to boosts employee productivity. As a result, this will further increase the hospital’s revenue The communication from the emergency department to other departments had some loopholes. Such loopholes can jeopardize the life of the patients. To reduce this, the adoption of the SBAR method of communication is highly recommended. The SBAR mode ensures that the nurses at various stations can get a clear outlook of the status of the incoming patient. Long-term recommendation For the changes in the patient flow to work, there is need to institute a morning discharge policy. According to the study, most patients are admitted early in the morning while most patients are discharged in the late afternoon. As a result, there are fewer beds available during the morning hours. The morning discharge policy will ensure incoming patients receive adequate care sooner. More nurses should be stationed at the patient admission center. The increase in the number of nurses will quicken the process of patient admission to the ward. In addition, increased number of nurses will help alleviate the workload of the nurses. After the adoption of the new workflow system, new employees should undergo through a thorough training process to gain knowledge on the changes in patient workflow processes. Impact of the project recommendation There will be an enhancement in the hospital revenue. Through Trending and Benchmarking health data, the hospital will identify primary areas that will need to be improved to increase its revenue. In addition, the hospital will be able to recover bad debt from already discharged patients since it integrates the health insurance of the patient. At the end of the process, the patient safety will be enhanced. The nursing supervisors become aware of the conditions of the hospital ward. In addition, a single individual supervises the bed placement process; this creates a reliable application of decision-making. As a result, patients reach their respective department faster for treatment The process will enhance patient satisfaction. The patients are booked into the hospital ward faster, and there are fewer transfers from subsequent the department. Therefore, decrease in patient movement results in higher patient satisfaction. The adoption of the recommendation will result in employee satisfaction. Incoming patients are transferred from the emergency department at a suitable time. The waiting time will be significantly reduced hence minimizing delays at any given department. Therefore, Patient’s transfers will not affect the work schedule of the employees. The adoption of the SBAR mode of communication minimizes the phone calls between departments. As a result, there is a minimal interruption of patient health care, and the nurses become lees frustrated. Results The hospital was able to recover some its bad debt that accrued over the years. In addition, the study revealed a number of factors that cause the delays in the emergency wing and inhibit the growth of the hospital revenue. First, the low number of employee stationed in the emergency department is primary cause of the delay. The number of patients received at the emergency was rising rapidly. As a result, this meant a huge workload is shared among few employees. Secondly, the study revealed that bureaucracy was also a primary cause of the patient delay in the hospital. For ordinary nurses to perform certain duties they first required the authorization of the nurse coordinators. As a result, time wastage is evident in the process at the expense of the patient well-being. Lastly, the study revealed that the lack of coordination between departments hampered the service delivery. Numerous phone calls are made from other departments to the emergency department. The nurses usually call to confirm information in the patient records. . Medium used to show the result The Enterprise Data warehouse will show the key areas that need to be focused on to improve the hospital revenue cycle management. Data on the bed capacity of Jackson Memorial Hospital will appear in a histogram. There will be an analysis of the hospital’s bed capacity over the past five years. A histogram and line graph will also be used to analyze the number of patients admitted over those were not admitted. Impact of the project At the end of the process, the hospital will be able to identify the primary areas that results to a loss in revenue. The slow patient flow significantly tightened the margin of the hospital since a lot of patients end up being transferred to private hospital that experience less delay. The waiting time will drop once the hospital adopts the project. Therefore, this will ensure patient safety. In addition, the project will reduce the movement of patients within the hospital. Such actions compromise the patient’s health. Reference Reschovsky, J. D., & O’Malley, A. S. (2008). Do primary care physicians treating minority patients report problems delivering high-quality care?.Health Affairs, 27(3), w222-w231. Read More