Reference no: EM133552651

Assignment: Master's in Public Health Essay

The Required Unit Resources for this unit examined how a growing population that is living longer and requiring more healthcare services than ever before will contribute to many challenges in the future of health care. The readings highlighted that while an ongoing issue, emergency department (ED) overcrowding and quality of service is certain to continue to worsen as a result without innovation and quality initiatives.

For this project, you will synthesize many concepts covered in this course to analyze this problem and outline a quality improvement initiative that can create positive change.

Problem: This hospital in the District of Columbia ranks as one of the worst in the entire nation for ED timely and effective care.

Goal: Create a systems-wide approach to substantially improve aspects of ED operation and care that will dramatically improve wait times to be seen, wait times until admission, and reduction of left-without-being-seen rates to meet or register below national averages.

You will need to perform any additional research on this hospital that is needed to support your project. Note: As you research this hospital, you will find it is ranked highly in other areas and specialties, even having received The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval. Researching this hospital's initiatives that led to this may be helpful.

Your project should reflect theories discussed in this course (e.g., lean, Six Sigma) and must utilize the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDCA) approach. It must include the following:

I. A brief summary of the problem, to include data supporting the need for change;

II. A quality improvement initiative proposal, to include specific desired outcomes;

III. Suggested implementation strategies that will be most effective to achieve quality improvement;

IV. Social marketing approaches to ensure widest awareness and participation in the initiative;

V. A measurement plan, to include the tools that will be most effective to measure change, and how ongoing performance will be monitored to prevent regression and loss of the positive change that has taken place,

VI. An analysis of the roles leadership, staff, and patients will play in the improvement initiative; and

VII. A summary of the benefits and long term effects if the desired outcomes are achieved.

VIII. Include a detailed analysis of the historical impact of quality management goals within the healthcare industry.

IX. Determine the connections between managed care processes and how these assist with the goals of a health care organization.

X. Interpret the major role a healthcare accreditation organization plays in the U.S., and include at least one example of an accreditor.