Implementing and Revising the Quality Improvement Plan - Essay Example

Quality Improvement Plan IV Lecturer Implementing and revising The Quality Improvement Plan of the organization will be implemented by the officials with the mandate to do so. There are various committees and officials charged with the responsibility of implementing this Quality Improvement Plan. The authority structure of the Quality Improvement Plan is based on the Quality Management Committee. The structure of authority, in the pecking order of seniority, include: the Chief Executive Officer of the facility, the Director of the support services to the community, the Director of Hospice unit, the Manager of the clinical program, a Nurse Practitioner, the coordinator of the performance management, and two members of the Board. All these individuals are charged with the responsibility of ensuring successful implementation of the Quality Improvement Plan and its success in improving quality of services and care delivered to the community. The Chief Executive Officer and the directors over see the functions of the committee at the decision level. In accordance to the mission of the facility; to be the leader in the delivery of responsive, integrated health and support services for the community as well as collaborative designs that respect the individual independence and dignity, and to build a healthy, safe environment where staff, physicians and volunteers join hands in working to provide clients with quality services and care; the main goal of the management committee is to collect and analyze data from multiple sources and initiate the impact of change in the care patterns within the area that is targeted with the Quality Improvement Plan. Within the committee, the coordinator for performance management oversees the process of data collection and have all the reports prepared on the behalf of the Quality Management Committee under the supervision of the mentioned directors. The Quality Improvement Plan is implemented by the Quality Management Committee who shall be responsible for the following functions: the Quality Improvement Plan coordination and assembling professional literature, standards, statistics originating from banks of data, criteria and other necessary information that allows the committee to plan for quality improvement, evaluate their performance and to implement the identified improvements; ensuring the completion of the review functions of the Quality Improvement Plan; coordination of Accreditation Committee; prioritizing issues for review by the committee; ensuring availability of needed resources; analyzing data collected; appointing small teams to handle minor issues; reporting findings, recommendations and studies; determining sources to be incorporated in the efforts of the quality improvement of the organization; and identifying needs of training and education to the staff. Other committee roles include the roles in communication, education, annual evaluation, and the general staff responsibilities and obligations to the program. Communication: it is the responsibility of the Quality Management Committee to communicate the outcomes of the Quality Improvement Plan to the rest of the board of directors and other staff. The committee may appoint the coordinator of the performance measurement to read the report on behalf of the committee. The Quality Management Team offers functions and oversight as a central house for improving data quality and the collected information within the organization. The committee is responsible for tracking aggregate data from other sources in order to remit the results and outcomes. Education: the staff members have educational needs among themselves. The staff needs to be educated and trained on the process of the Quality Improvement Plan and the methods that will be used to implement it so as to avoid resistance to change by the staff. Every staff member has the authority and responsibility to participate in the Quality Improvement Plan of the organization. The committee will provide education that pertains to the needs of the Quality Improvement Plan. This will include QIP description and how the other staff members fit into the Quality Implementation Plan process based on the specific duties and responsibilities of their jobs as well as the plan’s implementation. It is the responsibility of the Quality Management Committee to consistently and continuously evaluate and review the educational needs of the staff members. The findings from the formal evaluations will be used to coordinate the topics of education. This will ensure there is an attempt to focus on the problem with the educational labors. The Quality Management Committee shall ensure that all the volunteers and staff members access the available educational offerings. Annual Evaluation: The Quality Management Committee will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the Quality Improvement Plan annually in order to ensure effectiveness in the accomplishment of the goals and objectives that see to it that the quality of services, care and associated programs are improved. Some of the elements that will be monitored on annual basis in the process of evaluating improvement include: modified processes of care and service delivery, recommendations for the Quality Improvement Plan changes, and other projects still in progress. In order to monitor the effect of the changes that have been implemented, the following will be put in place for the monitoring and evaluation process: effectiveness of the procedure of offering information regarding access to care and availability of care to the community; the high volume, high risk and patient areas that are prone to problems; and the statistical information that relates to the increase in the outcomes desired by the clients as well as the committee roles and effectiveness in directing the quality improvement and management of the organization. Finally, the external entities also pose a great effect on the measure of quality and performance in the process of decision making. This is due to their influence through competition on offering the services. Health care organizations like Community Care Center aims at providing services such as: health services for the community like programs of wellness, health promotion, and primary health care; support services to the community like meal programs, transportation, adult day programs, and in home maintenance and support; services of hospice like bereavement, palliative and grief support; and dental clinic. These services are provided in other organizations too, and it is the interest of the clients to have the best services, therefore is an external entity offers better services and the clients notice this, it will influence the decision of the Community Care Center to implement the Quality Improvement Plan in order to catch up with the other competitors. It is hence evident that external entities directly influence the process of decision making in terms of quality improvement and performance measurement. References Albanese, M. (2010). Engaging clinical nurses in quality and performance improvement activities. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 34 (3), 226-245. Kliger, J. (2010). Nurse-driven programs to improve patient outcomes: transforming care at the Bed side, integrated nurse leadership program, and the clinical scene investigator academy. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 40 (3), 109-114. Murray, M. (2010). Teaching quality improvement. Journal of Nursing Education, 49 (8), 466 469. Walsh, T. (2010). Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Clinical Evaluation Tool. Journal of Nursing Education, 49 (9), 517-522. Read More