Quality Improvement Email
Glorybel Rodriguez
HCS/588 Measuring Performance Standards
November 24, 2014
Dr. Debbie Simmons

Quality Improvement Email
Health care organizations aim to provide both quality and safe patient care. These two fundamental and critical concepts in health care require continuous effort. “Organizations must make an intentional effort to measure, assess, and improve performance” (Spath, 2014, pp.266). Quality improvement (QI) is essential for the continued success of an organization as it reveals specific guidelines and methods to provide consistent and dependable quality services. This paper will discuss QI while focusing on quality management’s role and importance in health care, stakeholder’s different …show more content…

Clinicians also have an important role in QI. One role of the clinician is to maintain standards of care. Other roles that take part in QI are patient advocate who participates on all levels of quality management and infection control coordinator who gathers performance measures and facilitates the implementation of infection control accreditation standards (Spath, 2014). Lastly, even patients have a role in QI: their role is to actively participate in their plan of care and report a safety concern. All these roles will assist in enhancing quality, patient safety and improve processes.
Quality Monitoring The areas that need to be monitored vary from one organization to another as what needs improvement in one hospital may not be an issue in another. Prioritization of areas that require monitoring are determined by leadership through data such as benchmark data. However, with that being said compliance to standards of care and patient safety are two areas that should be monitored for quality as these areas have a direct effect on the delivery of care and can cause harm to patients. Keep in mind patient safety can include infection control, falls, medication errors, etc. Compliance is necessary and a requirement by regulatory organizations and therefore, must be enforced. An example of compliance would be adhering to cultural competency standards of care. Health care disparities persists in the United States and can be viewed as a