Capella University Vila Health Patient Flow Report School Assignment
Question Description
Create a 5-7 page report that will help the Director of Quality Management at Vila Health to understand the current trend of patient satisfaction numbers, and propose potential solutions to any problems.
Demonstrating the organization’s ability to be respectful of and responsive to the needs of their consumers will in turn improve upon the quality and safety of the care being delivered, decrease costs, and increase provider satisfaction. Organizations that seek to remain relevant in the industry, improve business operations, continue to capture market share, and continue quality improvement efforts, should always be focused on establishing patient safety as an improvement priority. Patient safety should never fall off the improvement radar, as organizations can quickly suffer from the implications of declined satisfaction if they are not monitoring the needs of their consumers. Organizations that fail to prioritize patient satisfaction run the risk of losing business and reimbursements. Given that reimbursements are tied to patient satisfaction, quality, and outcomes, any organization wishing to remain relevant in the industry would make patient satisfaction a priority within their strategy.
The quality improvement team is a diverse group of individuals who are tasked with carrying out improvement efforts. The team should include individuals who will be impacted by the improvement efforts being worked on. With this in mind, several teams may exist and be working on a variety of improvement efforts simultaneously within the organization. Each team is responsible for addressing the improvement initiative and tracking its progress toward achieving the anticipated improvement.
Common tools utilized by the team include lean methodology, six sigma, DMAIC, value stream mapping, and fishbone diagrams. The fishbone diagram (also known as the cause-and-effect diagram) is a visual tool utilized to highlight potential causes of a problem, including delays in care, in order to determine the root causes (Kros & Brown, 2013). Lean methodology focuses on making rapid improvements toward the goals of delivering value, eliminating waste, establishing flow, and pursuing perfection. Reducing unnecessary and wasteful steps is key in creating a dramatic improvement in flow in the value stream resulting in improved efficiency and speed—the main goal of the methodology. DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control) is a five-step process utilized in the six sigma method, which is focused on eliminating defects and waste, resulting in improved quality and efficiency (Kros & Brown, 2013). The data-driven strategy requires use of all five steps in order to ensure the best possible results.
Reference
Kros, J. F., & Brown, E. C. (2013). Health care operations and supply chain management: Operations, planning, and control. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
DEMONSTRATION OF PROFICIENCY
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:
Competency 1: Describe when and how the senior leader would directly impact health care operations.
Describe why leaders should select declining patient satisfaction as a performance improvement initiative.
Competency 2: Analyze the impact of the various success factors of a health care organization.
Explain why patient satisfaction is an essential component of health care business.
Competency 3: Analyze the concept of competitive strength by considering efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes.
Complete a fishbone diagram of the situation presented in this assessment.
Describe the purpose of a performance improvement team.
Competency 4: Apply management concepts to lead an efficient health care system.
Describe lean methodology.
Explain the DMAIC model for a data-driven improvement cycle.
Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with health care professionals.
Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
PREPARATION
This assessment is based on the Vila Health: Patient Flow media simulation, which is linked in the Vila Health: Patient Flow section of Assessment 2. Go to that section to complete the scenario at this time. The scenario presented in this media piece will provide you with the baseline information and context to create a report that addresses utilizing process improvement techniques and strategies to improve upon patient flow within and out of Independence Medical Center.
In addition to the information presented on fishbone diagrams and quality improvement strategies within the simulation, you may also want to conduct more in-depth research before create your report. You are encouraged to research topics on patient flow, DMAIC, patient satisfaction, and performance improvement teams.
INSTRUCTIONS
Based on the media simulation you completed, the Director of Quality Management has asked you, in your position in the quality assurance department, to create a report on the declining patient satisfaction at Independence Medical Center. In addition to your findings, you have been asked to present potential solutions and rationale for why these solutions are potentially relevant and valuable to pursue at IMC.
Include the following in your report:
Explain why patient satisfaction is an essential component of a health care business.
Identify a competitive advantage of the organization depicted in Vila Health: Patient Flow.
Explain the organization’s strategic initiatives.
Explain why patient satisfaction is a strategy for this organization.
Describe why leaders should select declining patient satisfaction as a performance improvement initiative.
Describe potential reasons for patient satisfaction decline.
Define a performance improvement initiative.
Complete a fishbone diagram of the situation presented in the Vila Health: Patient Flow media piece.
Discuss the process to identify the top categories of an issue.
Describe how to organize the subtopics when producing a fishbone diagram.
Describe the purpose of a performance improvement team.
Identify the positions or roles that are necessary to form a performance improvement team.
Describe the stakeholders that should be represented in a performance improvement team.
Describe lean methodology.
Define lean methodology.
Determine what kinds of projects benefit from the use of lean methodology.
Explain the define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) model for a data-driven improvement cycle.
Define the problem or scope that is depicted in Vila Health: Patient Flow.
Discuss what data you have to collect respective to the identified problem.
Define the root causes of the problem.
Determine the possible recommendations the team would offer.
Define possible recommendations and what would affect them.
Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Apply the principles of effective composition.
Determine the proper application of the rules of grammar and mechanics.
Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
Determine the proper application of APA formatting requirements and scholarly writing standards.
Assess the relevance and credibility of information sources.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Written communication: Writing is clear, precise, scholarly, and free of errors that detract from the overall message. Concepts flow in a logical order.
References: A minimum of three scholarly references.
Length: 5–7 pages.
APA: Correct use of APA style and formatting. Refer to the APA resources in the NHS Learner Success Lab (located in the courseroom navigation menu) if you have questions about APA style or formatting.
APA Style Paper Template [DOCX].
APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX].
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.