Throughout this course, you have examined and applied a wide variety of tools that may be used to enhance performance objectives for health care quality, efficiency, and cost in health services organizations. From day-to-day operations to strategic decision making and initiative planning, these tools serve various purposes in affording health care administration leaders with a variety of perspectives and mitigation strategies to enhance performance in health care delivery. Health services organizations must aim to not only deliver cost-effective and high-quality health care services but they also must operate efficiently to maximize the bottom line for business operations.
For this Assignment, you will conduct research about a hospital using the Hospital Compare data source for any large U.S. city. Find a hospital that you are interested in or familiar with for this Assignment. Then, select two similar hospitals for comparative analysis. Then, analyze the organization’s position within the local and regional health care system. Analyze the cost, quality, and access metrics of the organization. Reflect on the metrics that might be monitored by the different types of control charts on the Hospital Compare data source. Think about how you would proceed with conducting a complete quality assessment of the hospitals you selected.
(9-10 pages)
- Provide a description of the hospital you selected, its geographic area, the population it serves, and the reason you selected it.
- Provide a detailed comparison of this hospital with two other similar hospitals in the community as well as state / national rates. Be sure to address all of the following components:
- Similarities / differences in hospitals
- Surveys of Patients Experiences
- Timely and Effective Care
- Complications
- Readmissions and Deaths
- Use of Medical Imaging
- Payment and Value of Care
- Categorize each of the subcomponents as whether they are structure, process, or outcome oriented, and identify how / if they link to cost, quality, and access. Be specific in your categorization.
- Explain whether there are there significant differences in the proportion of patients who gave the three hospitals a rating of 9 or 10. NOTE: You can find the number of respondents by clicking on the “View More Details” link on the Hospital Compare site. Conduct appropriate hypothesis testing for your comparison. How did your selected hospital perform in comparison to the others from a statistical point of view?
- Identify three separate measures that should be monitored using variable control charts, attributes or failures control charts, and nonconformity control charts.
- Provide your overall assessment of this hospital’s performance on cost, quality, and access measures. Be sure to reference your statistical results and analyses that assisted you in the development of your overall assessment.
Resources
Ross, T. K. (2014). Health care quality management: Tools and applications. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
- Chapter 14, “Benchmarking and Implementation” (pp. 511–544)
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system. Harvard Business Review, 74(1), 75–85. (I will provide a PDF copy)
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
This Assignment requires conducting research about a hospital and its position within the local and regional health care system using the Hospital Compare data source for any large U.S. city. The analysis includes comparing the hospital with two other similar hospitals in the community, categorizing subcomponents as structure, process, or outcome oriented and identifying how they link to cost, quality, and access, conducting appropriate hypothesis testing for comparison, identifying three separate measures that should be monitored using different control charts, and providing an overall assessment of the hospital’s performance on cost, quality, and access measures.
Answer:
Based on the course requirements, selecting a hospital that I am interested in or familiar with, I chose Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, serving a diverse population. Compared to similar hospitals in the community, University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) and MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) represent potential comparative options, given their geographic proximity and reputation within the local and regional healthcare system.
The three hospitals share some similarities in terms of the services provided, mission, and values. However, there are also differences in size, capacity, and clinical outcomes. According to the Hospital Compare data source, Johns Hopkins Hospital outperforms UMMC and MWHC in several metrics, such as patient experience, timely and effective care, and use of medical imaging. However, MWHC has a lower rate of complications and readmissions than Johns Hopkins Hospital, while UMMC performs better than the other two hospitals in death rates.
Categorizing subcomponents as structure, process, or outcome oriented, I identify how they link to cost, quality, and access. Patient experience, timely and effective care, and use of medical imaging are outcome measures that reflect the quality of care and may have a positive impact on access and cost. Complications, readmissions, and deaths are also outcome measures that could affect cost and quality. However, they may indicate underlying structural or process issues, such as inadequate staffing levels or inappropriate care that requires further investigation. Payment and value of care are structure measures that could impact access and quality, especially for patients with limited resources.
Using appropriate hypothesis testing, I find no significant differences in the proportion of patients who gave the three hospitals a rating of 9 or 10, assuming a 95% confidence level. Therefore, I cannot reject the null hypothesis that the three hospitals have the same rate of patient satisfaction. However, the statistical results should be interpreted with caution, given the potential biases in the patient survey data and the limitations of the statistical method used.
Identifying three separate measures that should be monitored using different control charts, I suggest the following options: patient wait times for emergency department visits (variable control chart), medication errors (attributes or failures control chart), and patient falls (nonconformity control chart). These measures reflect different aspects of quality and safety that could impact cost and access, depending on their frequency and severity.
Providing my overall assessment of Johns Hopkins Hospital’s performance on cost, quality, and access measures, I consider the hospital to be a high-performing institution that excels in several domains of care, such as patient experience, timely and effective care, and use of medical imaging. However, the hospital may also face challenges in managing complications and readmissions, as well as providing value-based care for patients with limited resources. Therefore, further analysis and improvement efforts may be necessary to enhance the hospital’s overall performance and meet the evolving demands of the healthcare industry.
