Client Name
Capella University
NURS-FPX6612: Health Care Models Used in Care Coordination
Instructor’s Name
August 2024
Quality Improvement Proposal
Quality improvement in the healthcare system is always of great concern for healthcare organizations and stakeholders (Puri & Tadi, 2023). Quality of health can define the potential of healthcare facilities to meet the patient’s health requirements effectively through the use of Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) concerning the quality and performance standards of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). The organization can achieve the status of ACO by including HIT with the proper measures and monitoring of quality standards. The quality standards must be in alignment with the assessment of the efficiency of organizations’ health services.
This assessment will focus on my role and responsibility of improving the HIT of the Sacred Heart Hospital as a case manager. For the inclusion of quality metrics in the hospital’s hospital’s HIT system, various advanced strategies and data management tools will be needed to help the hospital achieve the status of ACO (Jen & Korvek, 2023). It will identify the purpose of data gathering and the implementation of the information gathered in achieving high-quality health standards. The potential problems that can affect or generate the data-gathering process will be analyzed and resolved through proper enhancements in HIT.
Recommendations to Expand Hospital’s HIT
The emerging technologies make it essential for healthcare organizations to introduce, design, and implement healthcare advancements in the systems for the well-being and satisfaction of patients (Junaid et al., 2022). For the improvement of Hospitals’ HIT, the integration of quality metrics is needed which includes the analysis and monitoring of the services provided at the Hospital and measuring their effectiveness in improving patient outcomes. Improved patient outcomes, the population’s health, and reduction in the expense of healthcare resources are the objectives that can be assessed and implemented to achieve the status of ACO for any healthcare organization.
Integration of Quality Metrics in Electronic Health Records
Electronic health records (EHR) are being widely used in healthcare systems due to advances in healthcare technology and the demand for enhanced patient care to achieve positive patient outcomes (Upadhyay & Hu, 2022). The implementation of technology should be monitored to assess its effectiveness and identify how the quality metrics can be included in the HIT for better health results and reduction in the cost of health disparities. The EHR systems at hospitals may not be functioning properly and this can be identified by monitoring the patient information generated by EHR it should be accurate, properly mention the gaps in data, efficiently resolve patient issues, and efficiently assess the services provided by the nursing staff and other healthcare professionals.
Application of Population Health Management Tools
Population health is the fundamental objective of qualifying for ACO, as it is also the basic purpose of every healthcare organization to provide effective and proficient quality of health to the patients to enhance patient outcomes (Foster et al., 2024). Population health management tools need to be advanced at hospitals to identify the health needs of the diverse population, their current health issues, and health facilities available to them for better provision of health care services to the patients thus improving the overall health of the nation. The tools managing the health population help in reducing the cost of healthcare services by preventing patient readmissions to the hospital and providing efficient healthcare services through high-standard EHR systems evaluation.
Implementing Telehealth Services
Telehealth services help in the monitoring of patients remotely thus preventing the extra visits of the hospital and reducing the cost of healthcare services which is the objective of ACO (Foster et al., 2024). Scared hospitals need to introduce effective telehealth options for the people who are unable to pay daily visits to the hospitals due to their remote locations and don’t have resources that can manage their transportation to the hospitals. Hospital HIT will be improved by advancing telehealth access for the patients for better patient outcomes. It will reduce hospital readmissions by providing early access to care to the patients via online screening, communication, and video monitoring of the health conditions of the patients.
Automated Self-Management Tools
Engaging patients in self-management is one of the major factors that can reduce health disparities by educating the patients to monitor their health conditions regularly, communicate with the healthcare providers effectively in case of any emergency, follow the automated reminders of medications, conference with case managers, monitoring of chronic diseases and follow up of the improvement plans (Jiang & Wang, 2021). This will help the patients become familiar with their health and ensure proper healthcare measurement implementation to improve their health condition.
Informatics Role in Nursing Care Coordination
The nursing staff is the one who is always at the front line for the proper monitoring of the health condition of the patients thus recognizing and responding effectively to deteriorating patient conditions using tools like EHR ( Mbuthia et al., 2024). These tools help the staff in early recognition of the problem to reduce health disparities thus improving patient outcomes. Effective use of HIT at the hospital can only be achieved by the proper training of the health staff and the nurses regarding advanced tools and technologies implemented for better patient outcomes. Engage nurses in multidisciplinary team activities and collaboration to understand the broader concept of healthcare services from different perspectives of healthcare professionals related to different disciplines (Warren & Warren, 2023). It will help the hospital to gain recognition as an ACO facility.
Main Focus of Information Gathering in Healthcare
Gathering information in the healthcare setting is crucial for better understanding the health conditions of the patients and providing proper assistance according to the patient’s health requirements (Nichol et al., 2023). This information is used to further process, and assess the needs of the organization in assuring the provision of all the resources to the patients required for their treatment. The information can be collected from various perspectives and disciplines which are given below;
Medical Data of the Patient
Information regarding the medical history of the patient is essential for determining the type of treatment needed by the patient and the quantity and quality of healthcare assistance necessary for the better health of the patient (Hannawa et al., 2021). Data regarding chronic diseases, surgeries, medications, or hospital visits helps a lot in successful patient transitions.
Data based on Resource Utilization
To understand the efficiency of the staff members and the case managers in delivering health care services to the patients, they need accurate data that can be evaluated and improved according to the outcomes (Knox et al., 2022). Moreover, the information regarding the utilization of the resources and the enhancement of resources helps in managing the resources regularly for improved performance of the staff and the organization.
Quality Metrics Assessing Data
Quality indicators are of great importance in achieving the status of ACO for the hospital as HIT will only be successful if it meets the proper quality standards (Moshood et al., 2022). The new inventions in healthcare technologies, tools, and maintenance systems need to be operated effectively to ensure that all the quality standards are taken into consideration and are logically implemented for improved outcomes.
Data on the Evaluation of Patient Experience
One more main objective of ACO is to enhance patient experience by providing high-quality health and safety services to the patients and communicating effectively for the better relationship-building process of the healthcare provider and the patient (Moshood et al., 2022). This evaluation of user experience is then used to implement new strategies for further betterment.
Development of Organizational Practice
Information gathering has a significant impact on organizational practices as it guides the team members and the other working staff of the hospital regarding the changes that need to be made for effective patient outcomes (Ellis et al., 2023). A few contributions of information gathering to guiding organizational practices are given below;
- Collecting information enhances the implementation of the practices based on evidence as it has been noticed that evidence-based practices are crucial for the effective monitoring and treatment of patient health conditions.
- The data regarding the usage of resources helps in the identification of required resources and making sure of the availability of the resources for better outcomes.
- Patient healthcare services are also improved by regularly monitoring and collecting data regarding the health condition of the patient.
- Regularly managing the resources and monitoring the efficiency of the quality standards implemented in hospitals advanced tools reduce the risks of health disparities and harmful events by timely providing healthcare services.
- This will also help in the continuous improvement process of the healthcare facility.
Potential Problems with Data Gathering Systems
The inefficiency of the data gathering systems can result in bad patient outcomes, poor health maintenance, inability of the organization to manage resources thus the whole system will be disturbed because of the disturbed data gathering systems (Reiter et al., 2022). These systems need to be updated, regularly monitored, and adjusted according to the requirements of the healthcare facility. A few potential problems are given below;
Human Mistakes
Human errors including incomplete data entry regarding patient care conditions will impact the treatment procedure thus affecting patient outcomes (Bindra et al., 2021). Incorrect data can create harmful effects on the health and safety of the patient and the organization struggling to improve quality standards.
Unorganized and Scattered Data
Data is used by various disciplines and healthcare professionals to generate outcomes and suggest treatments that are most suitable for the patient but unorganized data can create confusion and ambiguity among the professionals affecting badly their decision-making ability.
High Maintenance Cost
The maintenance cost along with the implementation of the advanced data gathering systems is high which can affect the organizations that are unable to fulfill the cost requirements of the HIT (Karamat et al., 2019). Developing countries most often depend on nonprofit organizations or global agencies to help them maintain a sustainable healthcare system and provide efficient health and care to patients.
Security and Confidentiality Concerns
The security most widely needs to be checked will dealing with advanced information collecting systems as they are more vulnerable to cyber or phishing attacks.
System Maintenance Mode
Systems due to overloading of the information get down and are unable to proceed with data entry requests which highly impacts the workflow of the system.
NURS FPX 6612 Assessment 2 Conclusion
Quality improvement refers to the improved standard of the healthcare services provided by the nursing staff, case managers, organizational resources, and advanced health monitoring tools (Seelbach & Brannan, 2023). The HIT in Scared Heart Hospital (SSH) can be expanded by introducing advanced systems efficient in quick recognition of the problem for better responding and reducing health disparities. The HIT of the hospital can be improved by designing and implementing strategies that are focused on the quality evaluation of informational technology-based tools and techniques. The quality metrics integration in the tools helps the hospital achieve ACO status that is based on three main objectives population health, cost reduction, and patient outcomes. HIT’s enhancement ensures better patient experiences and improved health of the population (Asagbra et al., 2019). The information gathered through these advanced systems is used in the provision of high-quality health to patients however these systems also have some potential problems regarding data gathering which can affect patient outcomes.
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