Introduction
A QI plan is a wide-ranging organizational work plan meant for various purposes like improving health care services including clinical services. A QI includes various things like essential information that detail how an organization will handle, position and assess quality throughout the organization (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006).
A QI plan requires committed leadership for it to be successful. This is because leadership helps in developing and improving quality through the acts of setting priority. Management also helps in the improvement efforts and coming up with core values. They also help in upholding a learning atmosphere and other important things that are of help to the organization.
Board of Directors
The board of directors support and guide the putting of QI process into operation. They also help in annual analysis, appraisal and approval of the QI plan and also provide or even approve the resources required to execute the plan.
QI Committee
The role of QI is to implement and to keep an eye on the QI program. QIC is also endowed with the task of recommending policies through subcommittees in the QI program. It also plays the task of examining and appraising the improvement, fallouts and outcomes of actions in the QI program. It also sets up actions and also follows up to make sure that the actions are followed. Strategic directions meant to guide the program are also set by the QI committee in addition to reviewing of important data related to the program.
Medical Staff
The medical staff ensures that quality is realized in the QI while working closely with other leaders in the QI. This is the team that is primarily responsible for carrying out the implementation plan.
Executive Leadership
Executive leadership is responsible for the overall processes and coordination of the plan and the staff. They are responsible for the communication between the staff and the committee and the stakeholders.
Middle Management
Middle management is a team that enhances the implementation of the plan by providing the necessary requirements. They facilitate the meetings and the communications of the QI in the organization.
Department Staff
The department staff is engaged the plan implementation at the departmental. They enhance the development and the implementation of the plan. They process the necessary documents and ensure that the plan meets the requirements and the necessary accreditations.
Communication
It is crucial to communicate regularly to the stakeholders, and the staff to keep them updated on how the plan is being implemented. Communication may be done through Q-letter emailed, all-hands meeting, board meetings and staff meetings among others. The significance of quality communication is to have the participants informed of what is happening through the implementation of the plan (Dew & Nearing, 2004).
Education
It is important to educate the staff on their responsibilities and roles in the implementation of the plan. Every member should be oriented into the plan in order to understand how it works and how they should cooperate with other members for maximum results and effective implementation of the plan. This may call for use of various tools such as flow charts which would help the m3ebers identify the actual flow of events throughout the process. This tool is useful at the early stages of the plan in order to comprehend the flow of processes. Later after they understand the problem another flow chart may be designed.
The other tool is brain storming which is useful in generating more ideas, problem tackling, possible causes and various approaches for solving the problems identified. It is easily applicable in group settings. Another tool is the Pareto chart that is helpful in displaying categories of problems in a graphical manner to help the members prioritize problems. Members can use this tool in order to communicate to others in relation to their data (Chao, Anderson & Hernandez, 2009).
Annual Evaluation
The plan should be evaluated annually. This is in order to check on the effectiveness of the plan and the realization of the goal. The QI evaluation committee should be responsible for the evaluation of the plan. The committee also has the task of reviewing the recommended revisions on the implementation of the plan. Priorities are set on the basis of the current review. This should result into realization of improvement opportunities that would be implemented the following year.
So as to keep an eye on the effect of the adjustments implemented, it is imperative to have a report that would sum up the entire review process, QI initiatives and findings, missions in progress, recommended modifications, and proposals among others. After the compilation of the report amidst other elements, it is forwarded to the board of for further reviews. The board upon reviewing the report may suggest necessary changes and measures that should be taken in order to enhance further the implementation of the plan.
External Entities
Before developing a QI plan it is essential to make out the external organizational necessities that must be fulfilled. This is indication that if a program s funded by the HRSA, it is important to visit their website in order to get their guidelines as well as the measures necessary for the development of the organization’s QI plan. There are various organizations those organizations that accredit and survey a wide range of health organization that qualifies for their safety and quality requirements.
The QI plan is a guidance document that passes information to everyone in the organization in relation to direction, activities, timeline and the importance of the QI plan to the organization. Every member is expected to know their role and responsibility in the implementation of the plan. There are various elements of the plan such as education of the staff, communication which would involve stakeholders and the staff, annual evaluation of the plan, and the leadership of the implementation of the plan (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012).
References
Buchbinder, S. B., & Shanks, N. H. (2012). Introduction to health care management. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Chao, S., Anderson, K., & Hernandez, L. M. (2009). Toward health equity and patient-centeredness: integrating health literacy, disparities reduction, and quality improvement : workshop summary. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
Dew, J. R., & Nearing, M. M. G. (2004). Continuous quality improvement in higher education. Westport (Conn.: Praeger.
McLaughlin, C. P., & Kaluzny, A. D. (2006). Continuous quality improvement in health care. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett.