Wait Times

The Institute of Medicine defines quality as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge”. Waiting to obtain an appointment with your MD or sitting for long periods in the Emergency Room can have negative health effects.

You open your social media app and you see a story on your timeline from your local news station that stated the following: Deaths due to long wait times

At Memorial hospital (inpatient and outpatient services), wait times to be seen for the emergency room (ER) and for primary care exceed quality standards. The wait times could range between three to four hours at the ER and an hour or two to be seen at the primary care clinic. Appointments to see a surgeon for surgical procedures are booking out weeks, unfortunately leading to deaths. Because of this, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is sending a team to conduct an audit. One possible result of the visit could be a reduction or loss of federal funding. Your job is to write a report that lead to a positive outcome for the hospital.

Examine this report: Measuring Health Care Quality: An Overview of Quality Measures

Implement quality measures at Memorial Hospital

Include the following aspects in the report:

Ø  Choose a quality measure for each problem you identify

Ø  Consider how you will implement changes to achieve the standards

Ø  Outline the financial impact of your changes

Ø  What kinds of systems need to be created to track progress?