Nursing practice is a field, which requires constant improvements, as it regards people and their health. Thus, the necessity to monitor and assess the performance is evident. The quality outcomes plan appears to be an appropriate solution for this aim. It regards the evidence-based practice (EBP) quality metrics, which are helpful for assuring whether organizations receive adequate performance measures in delivering the services. This way, the purpose of this paper is to prepare the quality outcomes plan and consider the steps of its creation.
Quality Outcomes Purposes
The quality outcomes plan implies several purposes, supplying its relevance and efficiency both in the present-day developments and in the future. The first one regards matching the quality of medical services to particular standards established by regulatory organizations. Secondly, the plan is aimed to report monitoring performance, analyze it, and propose some improvements. The final purpose addresses the necessity to advance some implementations on continuous performance assessment.
Quality Measures
In the field of health care, such a plan should imply the quality assessment of supplying medical services to patients. This way, the general aim is to pursue high-quality care options. To fulfill this intention, appropriate measurements should be applied to analyze different indicators of efficiency. For this reason, two sufficient methods, namely re-admissions rates and care effectiveness measurement, are chosen for considering the plan.
Benchmark and Sources
The significance of sticking to the benchmark can be explained by its positive impact on organizational performance. It involves collecting data on the effectiveness and efficiency levels, especially in the spheres of the service-driving healthcare organization. This way, the benchmark is useful for evaluating the continuous progress and applying for increasing the effectiveness of medical service and decreasing readmission rates. The first benchmark, it should match the requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for readmission rates using the Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP) and Project Re-Engineered Discharge (Project RED). In term of CMS programs, hospital discharge plans, and care transitions from hospital to other healthcare settings are the methods intended to decline the readmission rates. The second one is the corporate benchmark, which implies matching the performance of the healthcare company monthly and the national average yearly. Such a comparison may be realized via observations and programs monitoring the progress.
Data Collection Tools and Processes
First of all, the preference will be given to quantitative data to cover the overall effectiveness of care. For this purpose, the DNV healthcare software program will be leveraged, as it is beneficial for collecting information from administrative data and electronic health records (EHR). The DNV uses care measures, including healthcare professionals being compliant with EBP guidelines to improve outcomes while meeting CMS requirements. Furthermore, DNV is also helpful for preparing the Joint Commission survey. Project RED improves the hospital discharge process to reduce re-hospitalization rates using administrative data, progress tracking programs, and documentation.
Reporting Mechanisms for Data and Findings
In the health care field, the reporting systems are common and contribute to revealing the quality issues. The reporting mechanism is an efficient option for identifying downsides, which are worth taking into consideration. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) is appropriate to match the aforementioned description. It is a reporting mechanism, which is capable of supplying healthcare organizations with quality outcomes reports. Apart from this, it guarantees the safety of data and is easy to access. For this reason, NHSN is an effective solution for providing awareness of its ongoing quality activities.
The Action Plan for Meeting Metric Targets
The action plan for meeting metric targets involves two parts. The first one is aimed to decrease readmission rates. Streamlining quality metrics was applied for this purpose, as it helps that each quality reporting mechanism has the data to identify quality issues. The second step involves implementing particular improvements to increase the effectiveness of care on the base of the first part. This way, it becomes to realize the action plan for meeting metric targets.
The Rational for Changes
The quality outcomes plans are essential in the nursing field, as improvements are an integral part of development. According to The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (2018), their intention to decrease hospital readmission and their associated harms was extremely beneficial and “reflect real improvements in care” (para. 8), which is also evident in Table 1. Although the effect was positive, it is also marked that such an approach does not cover all the issues (The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, 2018; Sherwood & Barnsteiner, 2017). For this reason, care effectiveness assessment is worth applying, as it is helpful for addressing more aspects. In addition, Rivas et al. state that implementing this measurement method contributes to better controlling chronic disease. All thus, the combination of both readmissions declines and establishing care effectiveness assessment appears to be useful for delivering high-quality medical care. Therefore, the quality outcomes plan described above supplies a comprehensive solution for improvements and options for continuous progress in this field.
References
Sherwood, G., & Barnsteiner, J. (2017). Quality and safety in nursing: A competency approach to improving outcomes. John Wiley & Sons.
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has succeeded for beneficiaries and the Medicare program (2018). Web.
Rivas, F., Martín‐Iglesias S., Cerro J., Arenas C., López M., & Lagos M. (2015). Effectiveness of nursing process use in primary care. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 27 (1), 43-48. Web.