Wearable devices, such as activity trackers, encourage patients to stay more active and healthy on their own. This can reduce the need to see a doctor, while more advanced devices can monitor patients' health metrics, such as heart rate, diet and blood pressure, while traveling. Scotland's National Health Service implemented a quality improvement program that involves women in developing a system that will assess and manage those risks. Health systems that have access to data and analysis throughout their organization can quickly identify and prioritize quality improvement projects that will not only generate a strong return on investment, but will also improve care in a quantifiable way.
By staying informed about the services provided and the success rates, quality leaders can work to improve the hospital's overall level of care. Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, embarked on a quality improvement program to try to prevent all hospital-acquired harm to patients from becoming a major problem at all. Some examples of quality improvement include caregiver education, new equipment and procedures, staffing and work practices, among other areas. While it is important for organizations to carry out quality improvement activities, quality assurance activities are often carried out on smaller fronts, such as improving communication or increasing staff productivity.
However, the process of identifying, prioritizing and implementing these changes can be improved with the right tools, processes and people. HRIS integrate and exchange data from diverse sources so that doctors can make better decisions and provide better services. Health systems can provide better outcomes, improve the patient experience and save lives through quality improvement projects that reduce clinical variation, preventable medical errors, hospital-acquired infections, delays in patient discharge and improve final outcomes. Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico carried out a quality improvement project to improve the way it processed complaints from its members about quality of care problems in health centers.
AHRQ develops the knowledge, tools and data needed to improve the health system and help consumers, health professionals and policy makers make informed health decisions. Another area that health care quality improvement professionals can focus on is keeping the facility safe. Quality improvement initiatives can focus on clinical, financial and operational aspects and can have a significant impact on total costs of care, clinical outcomes, variation in care, decision support, decision support, length of stay, and more. The most commonly used quality improvement models in health care are Lean, Total Quality Management, Kaizen and the Model for Improvement of the Institute for the Improvement of Health Care.
The clinical results are then presented to management and what needs to be done to improve quality and set realistic objectives is described.
