Assignment: Initiatives in Strategic Health Care Organizations

The old adage, “form follows function” describes considering the importance of what you are trying to accomplish before you decide how to get there. It is important to remember that you have to have the will to improve, ideas about alternatives to the status quo, and make it real—execute (Nolan, 2007).

In this Discussion, you will describe strategic health care quality initiatives in two organizations attempting to accomplish their goals and objectives in quality improvement. You will also examine the purpose of the initiatives(s) and share the issues and opportunities for improvement, as well as address any elements crucial to improving quality in your health care organization or one you are familiar with.

To prepare:

Read and review the resources in the Learning Resources section as they relate to initiatives in strategic health care organizations.

Select ONE organization from each of the TWO groups listed:

Group I:

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
• Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)

Group II:

• ANCC Magnet Recognition Program
• Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
• The Leapfrog Group

The Assignment:

In a 3- to 4-page paper (excluding title page and references):

• Describe strategic health care quality initiatives in two of the organizations. Compareand contrast the purposes of the initiatives.

• Analyze strategic quality issues and opportunities for improvement within the two organizations.
• Evaluatewhich elements of the initiatives are crucial to the quality-improvement opportunities of your health care organization or an organization with which you are familiar.

Note: Your Assignment must be written in standard edited English. Be sure to support your work with at least five high-quality references, including two from peer-reviewed journals. Refer to the Essential Guide to APA Style for Walden Students to ensure that your in-text citations and reference list are correct. This Assignment will be graded using this rubric: Week 4 Assignment Rubric (PDF). Your Assignment should show effective application of triangulation of content and resources in your conclusion and recommendations.

Discussion: Data Collection and Statistical Tools

Shewhart’s Theory for Statistical Process Control (SPC) requires a change in thinking from error detection to error prevention and has a number of benefits in health care. Several of the benefits include patient focus, increased quality awareness, decisions based on data, implementing predictable health care processes, reduced costs, fewer errors resulting in increased patient safety, and improved processes that result in improved health care outcomes and better quality care. However, every process varies. In SPC terminology as it relates to a control chart, a common cause variation does not suggest that a process functions at a desirable or undesirable level, but whether the nature of the variation is stable or predictable within certain limits. A special cause variation is a negative finding, and any changes made in a health care organization should not be made until it identifies and eliminates special causes. A control chart will tell a health care organization if a variation is a common or special cause and how to approach an improvement process. If it is a special cause the health care organization should investigate it and eliminate the variation, not change the process. If there is a common cause variation, the implementation of a process change is what will address the variation. Control charts will reveal whether the change was effective (Joshi et.al, 2014).

In this Discussion, you will look at these statistical tools for quality improvement and describe the differences between common cause variation and special cause variation. You will also explain any ethical, legal, or moral obligations that would support your rationale.

To prepare:

Review the Learning Resources for the week as they relate to Statistical Process Control, common cause, and special cause variation.

Read the following situations and determine whether each situation is a common cause variation or a special cause variation:

1. Dispensing the wrong medication to a patient
2. Dispensing the correct medication several hours after it was supposed to be dispensed

For both of these examples, apply data-collection and statistical tools to measure and explain your rationale for your determination.

Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleague’s postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion” link and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking Submit!