HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

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HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting – Step-by-Step Guide

The first step before starting to write the HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting, it is essential to understand the requirements of the assignment. The first step is to read the assignment prompt carefully to identify the topic, the length and format requirements. You should go through the rubric provided so that you can understand what is needed to score the maximum points for each part of the assignment. 

It is also important to identify the audience of the paper and its purpose so that it can help you determine the tone and style to use throughout. You can then create a timeline to help you complete each stage of the paper, such as conducting research, writing the paper, and revising it to avoid last-minute stress before the deadline. After identifying the formatting style to be applied to the paper, such as APA, you should review its use, such as writing citations and referencing the resources used. You should also review how to format the title page and the headings in the paper.

How to Research and Prepare for HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

The next step in preparing for your paper is to conduct research and identify the best sources to use to support your arguments. Identify the list of keywords from your topic using different combinations. The first step is to visit the university library and search through its database using the important keywords related to your topic. You can also find books, peer-reviewed articles, and credible sources for your topic from PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar. Ensure that you select the references that have been published in the last words and go through each to check for credibility. Ensure that you obtain the references in the required format, for example, in APA, so that you can save time when creating the final reference list. 

You can also group the references according to their themes that align with the outline of the paper. Go through each reference for its content and summarize the key concepts, arguments and findings for each source. You can write down your reflections on how each reference connects to the topic you are researching about. After the above steps, you can develop a strong thesis that is clear, concise and arguable. Next you should create a detailed outline of the paper so that it can help you to create headings and subheadings to be used in the paper. Ensure that you plan what point will go into each paragraph.

How to Write the Introduction for HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

The introduction of the paper is the most crucial part as it helps to provide the context of your work, and will determine if the reader will be interested to read through to the end. You should start with a hook, which will help capture the reader’s attention. You should contextualize the topic by offering the reader a concise overview of the topic you are writing about so that they may understand its importance. You should state what you aim to achieve with the paper. The last part of the introduction should be your thesis statement, which provides the main argument of the paper.

How to Write the Body for HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

The body of the paper helps you to present your arguments and evidence to support your claims. You can use headings and subheadings developed in the paper’s outline to guide you on how to organize the body. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to help the reader know what point you will be discussing in that paragraph. Support your claims using the evidence conducted from the research, ensure that you cite each source properly using in-text citations. You should analyze the evidence presented and explain its significance and how it connects to the thesis statement. You should maintain a logical flow between each paragraph by using transition words and a flow of ideas.

How to Write the In-text Citations for HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

In-text citations help the reader to give credit to the authors of the references they have used in their works. All ideas that have been borrowed from references, any statistics and direct quotes must be referenced properly. The name and date of publication of the paper should be included when writing an in-text citation. For example, in APA, after stating the information, you can put an in-text citation after the end of the sentence, such as (Smith, 2021). If you are quoting directly from a source, include the page number in the citation, for example (Smith, 2021, p. 15). Remember to also include a corresponding reference list at the end of your paper that provides full details of each source cited in your text. An example paragraph highlighting the use of in-text citations is as below:

The integration of technology in nursing practice has significantly transformed patient care and improved health outcomes. According to Smith (2021), the use of electronic health records (EHRs) has streamlined communication among healthcare providers, allowing for more coordinated and efficient care delivery. Furthermore, Johnson and Brown (2020) highlight that telehealth services have expanded access to care, particularly for patients in rural areas, thereby reducing barriers to treatment.

How to Write the Conclusion for HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

When writing the conclusion of the paper, start by restarting your thesis, which helps remind the reader what your paper is about. Summarize the key points of the paper, by restating them. Discuss the implications of your findings and your arguments. End with a call to action that leaves a lasting impact on the reader or recommendations.

How to Format the Reference List for HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting

The reference helps provide the reader with the complete details of the sources you cited in the paper. The reference list should start with the title “References” on a new page. It should be aligned center and bolded, in sentence sentence care. The references should be organized in an ascending order alphabetically and each should have a hanging indent. If a source has no author, it should be alphabetized by the title of the work, ignoring any initial articles such as “A,” “An,” or “The.” If you have multiple works by the same author, list them in chronological order, starting with the earliest publication. 

Each reference entry should include specific elements depending on the type of source. For books, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the book in italics, the edition (if applicable), and the publisher’s name. For journal articles, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the article (not italicized), the title of the journal in italics, the volume number in italics, the issue number in parentheses (if applicable), and the page range of the article. For online sources, include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or the URL at the end of the reference. An example reference list is as follows:

References

Johnson, L. M., & Brown, R. T. (2020). The role of telehealth in improving patient outcomes. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 35(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000456

Smith, J. A. (2021). The impact of technology on nursing practice. Health Press.

HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting Instructions

The purpose of this assignment is to examine how publicly reported data influence internal quality improvement initiatives. Have a look at HQS 610 Topic 5 DQ 1.

Identify a specific health care organization of your choice. Review its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores and Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) reports.

In a 1,250-1,500-word paper, discuss your findings on the HCAHPS scores and HAIs for the health care organization you selected. Include the following in your paper:

1.     Describe the health care organization you have selected.

2.     Discuss the role of HCAHPS and HAIs in creating quality indicators and how they contribute to the quality improvement process.

3.     Discuss how the HCAHPS and HAIs data of your selected organization compare to national benchmarks.

4.     Discuss the role of consumer satisfaction in quality improvement.  

5.     Describe the intent and outcomes of public reporting.

6.     Discuss what actions leadership could take at your selected organization based on the reported HCAHPS and HAIs data.

This assignment requires four to six scholarly resources.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. 

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite Technical Support Articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance. 

HQS 610 Topic 4 Assignment: The Importance Of Public Reporting Example

The Importance of Public Reporting

Availing healthcare data to the public is crucial to decision-making by public members. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are vital organizations in reporting healthcare data. These institutions collect information from healthcare facilities to prepare public reports and inform healthcare policies for quality care outcomes. Healthcare facilities can also report data directly.

Publicly available data includes the benchmark targets for specific conditions and healthcare interventions, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, and Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) reports. The data allows the institutions to improve their services and also helps determine how their services are faring against other care providers in the market. This essay focuses on the Ascension Genesys Hospital.

Healthcare Organization Selected Description

The selected organization is the Ascension Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Ascension Genesys Hospital offers all services with around-the-clock service delivery, including emergency care and surgical services. It is rated as a high-performing hospital offering complex services to vulnerable populations. The hospital is well-recognized in the region and competes fairly with other hospitals. The hospital has a 412-bed capacity and offers non-discriminatory services to patients of all races, ages, economic statuses, or origins.

The hospital has a catholic origin and is dedicated to delivering sustainable spiritual, holistic, and compassionate care to all individuals. The hospital’s commitment is to the care of patients or the patient population. It is a nonprofit institution and the focus of this assessment. The hospital’s HCAHPS and HAIs reports are available online and vital to decision-making for patients seeking care services in this hospital. The information can also help policymakers in the facility to improve care delivery services for better health outcomes, ratings, and improved perception of the hospital’s care services.

HCAHPS and HAIs in the Quality Improvement Process

The HCAHPS and HAIs have become major factors in reimbursement. They are the gold standard for insurers to determine how much they should reimburse hospitals. They also help consumers select the best hospitals based on their specific needs. For example, the CMS does not reimburse hospital-acquired infections such as CAUTIs (Dhar et al., 2021). In addition, the CMS uses nationally computed data on HAIs to determine the level of HAI prevention in hospitals. The CMS also implements a 1% payment reduction for hospitals whose HAI rates are above the 75th percentile of the nationally computed data (Husaini & Maddox, 2020).

Patient satisfaction is one of the major care quality indicators in healthcare facilities. Manzoor et al. (2019) note that patient satisfaction is a quality measure showing how the services meet the patient’s needs and expectations, making it a vital quality indicator. Hospital-acquired infections are undesired and show the failure of internal efforts to prevent infections in the facility. HAI rates help determine the effectiveness of internal healthcare facility programs and efforts by the institution to minimize these infections (Monegro et al., 2022). Thus, these measures are vital quality indicators in healthcare facilities.

 Patients rate their interactions with care providers and the system and outline how satisfied they are with the services offered, which provides insights into areas for improvement. Chen et al. (2020) note that HCAHPS scores show the quality of care delivered and the quality of patient-care providers’ relationships in healthcare facilities to influence patient outcomes. Continuous assessment of patient scores helps determine patterns of scores that indicate the hospital’s need for improvement. They then inform improvement interventions.

For example, poor scores in patient education and communication categories can ignite a change in patient education interventions, such as using standardized nursing terminologies for accountability and quality education delivery (Chen et al., 2020). HAIs are an actual representation of hospital efforts to ensure quality care delivery. Unlike subjective HCAHPS scores, HAIs are factual and objective, and HAIs are a direct indicator of the care quality offered in a healthcare facility. For example, HAI reports showing a higher rate of catheter-acquired urinary tract infections can help the facility implement corrective interventions such as clinician education and catheter insertion algorithms. Thus, HCAHPS and HAI are vital quality indicators and are thus vital to the quality improvement process.

HCAHPS and HAIs Data for Ascension Genesys Hospital

The HCAHPS data is stored in the Medicare database. The information in this section is sourced from the Medicare.gov (n.d.) database. AGH has a survey response rate of 32% and an overall patient rating of 3/5. 67% of the patients report that their nurses always communicated well, compared to the 80% Michigan average and 79% national average. Doctor communication scores were 70% compared to the 80% national average and the 79% Michigan average. 7% of the patients reported getting assistance when needed, compared to the 66% national average and 69% national average.

About 7% of the patients report that they can recommend the facility to others, compared to a 69% national average and a 68% Michigan average. Only 1% of the patients reported to have understood their care delivery by discharge, a percentage in tandem with the state and national averages. About 48% of the patients reported that their rooms were quiet at night compared to national average of 62% (Medicare.gov, n.d.). The HCAHPS scores show that patient satisfaction rates are slightly lower in the hospital than in the state and nation. The most underperforming areas are night quietness in the room, involvement in medication administration, room cleanliness, and patient education.

The most HAI in the hospital is SSI-colon surgery, followed by SSI-abdominal hysterectomy, MRSA bacteria, and Clostridium difficile (HospitalCompare, n.d.). The data available from the hospital comparison website excludes other healthcare-associated infections because of their insignificance at Ascension Genesys Hospital. The data compares the rates in the hospital to the national rate, and a value of 1 shows that the hospital’s average is equal to the national average. For example, the hospital’s SSI-colon surgery rate of 7.3 shows the hospital performed better than the national average. The other values are as follows: SSI-abdominal hysterectomy 0.9, MRSA bacteremia 0.82, and Clostridium difficile 0.9 (HospitalCompare, n.d.). Thus, the hospital’s performance in preventing hospital-acquired infections is slightly better than the national average.

Consumer Satisfaction in Quality Improvement

Consumer satisfaction refers to the ability of healthcare services to meet the patient’s needs and preferences. Customer satisfaction is a quality indicator that cuts across all services and products in all sectors. Customers often research the satisfaction scores of product or service reviews before seeking or purchasing them. Customer satisfaction helps identify areas for improvement. It provides insights from the patients’ perspectives that may be lacking from the healthcare providers’ perspectives. Patient satisfaction scores are vital in identifying deficient areas and pinpointing care aspects that need modification, removal, or introduction.

Customer satisfaction also supports the shift to patient-centered care. The care facilities collect data from patients that show their preferences and most urgent needs. Customer feedback helps improve the healthcare environment by increasing its focus on patient outcomes and delivering care that fulfils customer values and expectations (Hussaini & Maddox, 2020). Customer satisfaction is used by policymakers, including CMS, to make decisions such as reimbursement and redirection of efforts to improve care delivery (Chen et al., 2020). It is thus important to monitor customer satisfaction scores for effective quality improvement interventions.

Intent and Outcomes of Public Reporting

Public reporting intends to make the public aware of care facilities’ quality of care before seeking their services. Public reporting intends to promote transparency and accountability within the healthcare facility. Public reporting is also intended to help facilities compare their institutional performances and understand how they are faring compared to other facilities in the vicinity (AHRQ, n.d.).

Benchmarking is an important way of learning, and institutions can rely on publicly reported data to determine institutions with higher performance in certain areas and benchmark practices with them. Benchmarking also promotes innovation diffusion through healthcare, positive relationships, and healthy competition. Public reporting empowers patients by facilitating their access to healthcare information from care providers and facilities, hence more informed decision-making (AHRQ, n.d.).

Caldarone et al. (2022) note that public reporting helps patients understand services offered by the institutions and rated qualities and can thus make decisions based on their needs and preferences. Public reporting enhances healthcare quality. These reports highlight variations in the quality of care delivery among care providers and care facilities. Availing data publicly stimulates care facilities to continuously improve outcomes and patient satisfaction, improving care quality (AHRQ, n.d.).

Facilities tend to seek evidence-based practices and QI initiatives to address areas of underperformance. Public reporting influences resource allocation and policy development. Balsells et al. (2019) note that the rate of Clostridium difficile from reported data has been on the rise and is a burden to healthcare facilities. Thus, institutions and government agencies are urged to intervene promptly. Policymakers depend on healthcare data to identify areas of concern and inform decisions through prioritization and resource allocation.

Leadership Actions Based on The HCAHPS and HAIs Data

Ascension Genesys Hospital data on HAIs and HCAHPS can be used in various ways. The HAI data shows that the facility is doing relatively well against the national benchmark, but there is still room for improvement, considering the performance of other nearby hospitals. The areas of underperformance from the data satisfaction scores are night quietness in the room, involvement in medication administration, room cleanliness, and patient education (Medicare.gov, n.d.). Clostridium difficile and SSI hysterectomy rates are also high, and there is a need for change.

Actions by the institution include a root cause analysis by evaluating factors in the facility leading to these problems (Salvatore et al., 2022). For example, noise could result from the proximity of patients to noisy machines (such as generators) and noisy patients. Developing an anti-noise policy prohibiting noisy machines or noise at night in the wards can help improve the problem. The leaders can also evaluate current policies, if any, to prevent these problems and determine the factors leading to their failure. The leaders at Ascension Genesys Hospital will also collect data at a later date (continuous evaluation) that will help evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions.

Conclusion

Public reporting of healthcare data, such as the HCAHPS and HAIs scores, is crucial in improving healthcare outcomes and decision-making. The availability of this information empowers patients by providing insights into the quality of care provided by healthcare facilities. It allows individuals to make informed choices about their healthcare options and encourages facilities to strive for higher standards of care. For Ascension Genesys Hospital, the HCAHPS and HAIs data reveal areas for improvement. The hospital’s patient satisfaction scores, particularly in categories such as communication and education, indicate a need for improvement.

Similarly, the higher rates of specific hospital-acquired infections highlight the importance of implementing corrective interventions and improving infection prevention practices. Effective leadership actions based on this data include conducting root cause analyses to identify the underlying factors contributing to deficiencies, implementing targeted policies and interventions to address specific issues, and continuously evaluating the effectiveness of these measures. By actively utilizing the feedback from public reporting, Ascension Genesys Hospital can drive quality improvement initiatives and enhance patient satisfaction and outcomes. Public reporting fosters transparency, accountability, and healthy competition within the healthcare industry. It empowers patients, informs policy decisions, and drives continuous quality improvement efforts in healthcare facilities.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, n.d.). Topic: Public Reporting. Department of Human and Health Services. Accessed May 8th 2023 from https://www.ahrq.gov/topics/public-reporting.html

Balsells, E., Shi, T., Leese, C., Lyell, I., Burrows, J., Wiuff, C., Campbell, H., Kyaw, M. H., & Nair, H. (2019). Global burden of Clostridium difficile infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Global Health, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.09.010407

Caldarone, C. A., Romano, J. C., Jaquiss, R. D., Bacha, E., Dearani, J. A., & Overman, D. M. (2023). Threats and Opportunities-Public Reporting in Congenital Heart Surgery. The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.03.022

Chen, H. C., Cates, T., Taylor, M., & Cates, C. (2020). Improving the US hospital reimbursement: how patient satisfaction in HCAHPS reflects lower readmission. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 33(4/5), 333–344. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-03-2019-0066

Dhar, S., Sandhu, A. L., Valyko, A., Kaye, K. S., & Washer, L. (2021). Strategies for effective infection prevention programs: structures, processes, and funding. Infectious Disease Clinics, 35(3), 531–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idc.2021.04.001

HospitalCompare, (n.d.). Ascension Genesys Hospital. Acute Care Hospitals. Accessed May 8th 2023 from https://hospitalcompare.io/profile/ascension-genesys-hospital-mi

Husaini, M., & Maddox, K. E. J. (2020). Paying for Performance Improvement in Quality and Outcomes of Cardiovascular Care: Challenges and Prospects. Methodist DeBakey cardiovascular journal, 16(3), 225. https://doi.org/10.14797/mdcj-16-3-225

Manzoor, F., Wei, L., Hussain, A., Asif, M., & Shah, S. I. A. (2019). Patient satisfaction with health care services: An application of physicians’ behavior as a moderator. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(18), 3318. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183318

Medicare.gov (n.d.). Ascension Genesys Hospital: Patient survey rating. https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/details/hospital/230197?state=MI&measure=hospital-patient-surveys

Monegro, A. F., Muppidi, V., & Regunath, H. (2022). Hospital-acquired infections. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.

Salvatore, F. P., Gagliardi, A. R., & Milone, M. (2021, August). Root Cause Analysis to Identify the Invisible Barriers in Clinical Practice: a Systematic Literature Review. In 2021 IEEE International Conference on Technology and Entrepreneurship (ICTE) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTE51655.2021.9584492