The Four Key Principles Of Quality Improvement In Hospitals

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Quality improvements are the actions that nurses take that leads to measurable improvement in healthcare facilities and the health of the patient groups. Quality improvements are essential in hospitals to maximize patient safety, prevent the underuse of beneficial services, and minimize procedures that are not medically necessary. Quality improvement is critical for patient safety in the healthcare field because the improvements the hospitals help minimize medical mistakes and patient fatalities. Quality improvements are very critical in hospitals. They maximize patient safety and increase the efficiency of healthcare. The patient’s safety is important to keep in mind while developing quality improvements in hospitals. In 1997, 44,000 to …show more content…

These principles include the quality improvement working as systems and processes, concentrating on the patient and his or her needs, team effort, and focusing on the statistics. The first principle was for the improvement to work as systems and processes. This just means that the organization that desires to make improvements must recognize that the resources and activities that are carried out are put together to enhance the quality of care in the facility (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). The organization uses the knowledge and input from nurses and connects the knowledge to activities and procedures that are carried out on a daily basis. The data from putting the two together is used to improve the care provided in the hospital. The second principle was to focus on the patient and his or her needs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). This is very important for patient safety because if the improvement the organization is making does not benefit the patient and fulfill their needs then there are multiple risk factors for medical mistakes. The improvement should include patient access, care that is given to the patient should be evidence-based, patient safety, encourage patient participation, and patient involved communication. The third principle was team effort. The process of making a quality improvement is extremely complex and since one person cannot …show more content…

The first quality improvement program I mentioned was Hospital Quality Initiative (HQI). HQI joins hospital members with specialists to determine the best evidence-based practice. The hospital then reports on twenty measures, which are reported to consumers. The second program I mentioned was the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission includes advantages in acute myocardial infraction, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care improvement, asthma, and pregnancy related conditions (Draper, Felland, Liebhaber, Melichar, 2008). This program creates different strategies and plans to improve in those specific areas. In order for a hospital to acquire accreditation, it must have at least three or more of these core measures. The third program I mentioned was Leapfrog. Leapfrog accumulates and reports data on hospital quality and patient safety efforts to help future patients make educated choices about where they want to receive their hospital care. The last program I mentioned was the Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program. The Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program (COAP) is a nonprofit partnership that provides evidence-based strategies to encourage quality improvements inside the hospital and produces clinical data necessary to improve the hospital’s quality of care. There is also a Surgical

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