Introduction
Quality improvement and performance plans are detailed strategies for the enhancement of a healthcare’s clinical organization and service quality. It includes among others how the organization will run its day-to-day activities as well as review performance quality. The board of directors has to approve the quality and improvement plans that the executive staff in the healthcare organization usually develops. The aim of developing a quality improvement and performance plan is for it to act as a benchmark for reference in subsequent years of operation. Selecting the right path for quality improvement in any organization is usually the hardest task. Adopting the best method could help avoid incidents of cultural clashes and conflicts related to status quo.
Qualities of an effective Quality and Performance Improvement Strategy
An effective QI/PI plan should be able to include the health organization’s mission, goals, and objectives to outline clearly what the end target is. The plan should address the criteria of project selection, management, and improvement. In any health organization, staff members are critical aspects that should never be left out. A QI /PI therefore should have a clear description of how the staff training and welfare could be carried out and managed. Additional aspects such as the organization’s future, the mode of communication, updates to the staff and techniques and method to be used also need to be clearly spelt out.
It is important that the healthcare facility conducts cultural assessment needs and find the willingness of the hospital to change before initiating quality and performance changes. Close working relationships with employees are also important to be adopted in order to come up with the best strategy that could best fit the organization. The government or the administrative authority in power is a key stakeholder concerning quality and performance improvement in healthcare. Funding and provision of academic experts is usually seen to be the work of the government. This calls for close working relations between any healthcare organization and the authority in power at any particular time.
Elements of Quality and performance Improvement
The major focus of the quality and performance improvement strategy should be the customer. Whatever strategy is adopted it should ensure that the end plan would be a more satisfied customer or patient. This involves ensuring that all patients who visit the health organization can recover from whatever ailments and diseases within the shortest time possible.
The employee of the organization needs to be empowered to be more confident at the workplace. This could have positive outcome as the workforce output will increase and probably lead to an increase in profits if the healthcare organization is privately owned. Whatever strategy is adopted, it should always be more focused on prevention rather than correction. The programme should encourage participation at all levels of the organization straight from the board of directors to the lowest employee and the clients inclusive. Adoption of performance indicators is an important part of QI/PI initiatives. Assessment of performance is critical and needs to be done on a regular basis for the development of best practices that could lead to improved patient care and job satisfaction within any healthcare organization.
Quality and performance improvement is a team process. For the success of any QI/PI strategy, a particular team needs to tap the knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives of different people. It is worth noting that even the lowest ranked employee has a specific positive aspect to add to the initiative. This enhances the need to include everybody within the organization. The process of quality and performance improvement is very complex; no one individual within an organization has all the information about a particular issue. This is evidenced by the fact that a QI/PI initiative in a multi-disciplinary working area and creativity within all sectors is highly needed. Staff commitment is a significant factor that aids health employees oversee adoption and success of initiatives for quality improvement.
Examples of quality improvement projects within a health organization include improvement of patient waiting time that may mean that patients record the time of arrival to allow the staff to attend to them on a first come first served basis. Introduction and improvement of telephone service, and introduction of diabetes care are just but a few quality and performance improvement strategies that an organization may choose to undertake.
As a future HIM professional, I expect to contribute to QI/PI initiatives within the scope of Health Information Management in the following ways
First, I will work towards ensuring there will be enough resources to implement the QI/PI initiatives. This will include among others lobbying for funds from stakeholders and donors and taking part in activities that will generate revenue such as organizing luncheons. Another key area that I will put emphasis on is staff motivation and engagement. I will do this through organizing and taking part in staff building activities such as sports days, continuous researching, and reading of information on health in order to form part of my ventures as a future HIM (Health Information Management) professional.
It is important for any professional to commit to their work and always be ready to offer support to the people one interacts with in the professional life. Commitment and support will be my driving forces as a future HIM professional and by doing this, I hope to positively influence my colleagues to also start committing to QI/PI initiatives. Initiating effective ways of monitoring progress whenever any QI/PI initiative is launched is a critical part in the success of the initiative.
As a future HIM professional, I will take it upon myself to ensure I always monitor progress of QI/PI initiatives and where possible, provide my advice and suggestions on how to foresee the success of these plans. Embedding programme elements such as adding some of these elements in an organization’s mission statement and objective also ensures that they always stay at the fingertip of employees and would therefore guarantee the success of a particular initiative. As a future HIM professional, I will ensure that I master and encourage my colleagues to put these initiatives at heart.
I will encourage community and stakeholder participation in the entire process of the QI/PI process through patient feedbacks to incorporate the entire experience during the healthcare practice. It has been noted that citizens are more likely to implement solutions that they have been involved in identifying. Involving all stakeholders in all stages of the QI/PI initiative will foresee great success of the strategy. In conclusion, the quality and delivery of healthcare services will greatly improve if the right QI/PI strategies are put in place and the best method to achieve these strategies is clearly laid out.