Quality and Safety Management

In order to evaluate the current state of healthcare and make effective and important improvements in patient quality and safety, it is critical to identify meaningful performance measures. It is important that these performance measures be applied in the same way in similar healthcare organizations, wherever they are. As noted in your course text, there are three types of performance measures used to evaluate healthcare: structure, process, and outcome.
Structural measures give consumers a sense of a healthcare provider’s capacity, systems, and processes to provide high-quality care. Structural measures are features that evaluate a healthcare organization or clinician relevant to its capacity to provide healthcare (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, 2018). An example of a structural measure is a medication order entry system. Process measures indicate what a provider does to maintain or improve health. An example of a process measure is the percentage of patients receiving preventive services. Outcome measures reflect the impact of the health care service or intervention on the health status of patients. An example of an outcome measure is hospital-acquired infections.
In this Discussion, you will identify structure, process, or outcome measures for a healthcare quality and safety issue. You will also examine quality and safety actions that can be implemented within a healthcare setting.
References
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. (2018, February). Measures management systems. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services | Measure management & you. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/MMS/Downloads/Structural-Measures.pdf
To prepare for this Discussion:
• Review the Learning Resources, specifically Chapters 3 and 4 in your textbook, Introduction to Healthcare Quality Management. (attached)• Select a healthcare quality and safety issue of your choice (or one you may have experienced).
• Consider the structure, process, and outcome measures for the healthcare quality and safety issue you have selected.
Post a comprehensive explanation of the following:
• Identify at least one structure, process, and outcome measure for the healthcare quality and safety issue that you have selected.
• Provide an explanation for how you might have experienced at least one of these measures in practice.
• Explain how patients measure quality differently from healthcare professionals. Provide an example.