Problem
Scenario: As a result of the OPPE process, it was found that two credentialed providers, two urology surgeons specifically, have been found to be deficient on the OPPE in the area of infections: both surgeons' post-operative urosurgery patients have been experiencing antibiotic-resistant urinary tract infections. Not only does this impact the quality of the care per the standards, but it can also impact the social marketing of the hospital, increase the costs of care, increase patient length of stay, and decrease reimbursement.
Therefore, your task is to recommend an evaluation method for 3, 6, and 12 months intended to evaluate the reduction in infection rates as part of a quality improvement initiative. Then, you will need to justify your evaluation method and why the method(s) should be employed after the initiative launch. Lastly, you will discuss how this evaluation method should change over time to accurately assess the initiative over time. How do you address the urinary tract infection rates in periods of 3, 6, and 12 months, and how will you lay out a plan for these urology surgeons? After all, the medical executive committee (MEC) of your hospital is held accountable to fulfill the OPPE requirements. If these two surgeons continue to have post-operative patients with infections, the MEC will determine what happens next. The MEC is committed to reducing patient harm and, specifically, they are committed to having an active OPPE process to drive quality improvements.
Prompt: Come up with a memo that is to be shared with the MEC. This memo will discuss the evaluation methods that could be employed to address the situation described in the scenario. Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
1) Evaluation methods at 3, 6, and 12 months: Recommend evaluation methods for reducing infection rates as a quality improvement initiative at 3, 6, and 12 months.
2) Justify an evaluation method: Justify an evaluation method for healthcare quality improvement initiative at 3, 6, and 12 months after initiative launch.
3) Why evaluation methods change: Discusses how evaluation methods for healthcare quality improvement initiatives should change over time, depending on the change of infection rates over time.