Apply statistics and Quality Methods in healthcare
Course Scenario
Chaparral Regional Hospital is a small, urban hospital of approximately 60 beds, and offers the following:
- Emergency room services
- Intensive care
- Surgical care
- Obstetrics
- Diagnostic services
- Some rehabilitation therapies
- Inpatient pharmacy services
- Geriatric services and
- Consumer physician referral services
Recently, the CEO has been hearing complaints from both patients and staff. You have been hired to design and implement a Quality Improvement Plan to help uncover quality problems and satisfactorily resolve them.
Scenario Continued
Your CEO has requested that you provide employee training on Quality Improvement. You have done an initial survey of patient satisfaction, and the CEO has asked you to explain how the data will be analyzed, using this initial data.
Given the variety of complaints coming from both employees and patients, it is critical for everyone to understand the importance of conducting the survey and obtaining solid data.
| Question | Great 5 |
Good 4 |
OK 3 |
Fair 2 |
Poor 1 |
No Response | Total |
| Facility and Convenience | |||||||
| Hours of Operations | 10 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 40 |
| Convenience of location | 10 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 40 |
| Cleanliness | 11 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 40 |
| Waiting time in reception area | 9 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 40 |
| Comfort while waiting | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Staff | |||||||
| Explained procedure | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 40 |
| Questions answered | 11 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 40 |
| Friendly and helpful | 21 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 40 |
| Knowledgeable and professional | 6 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 40 |
| Modesty respected | 12 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 40 |
| Confidentiality respected (HIPAA) | 10 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 40 |
| Overall Satisfaction | |||||||
| Overall impression of visit | 30 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 40 |
| Willingness to return | 31 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Likelihood of referring to others | 32 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 40 |
Respondents were also asked about their wait times. Here is the data on wait times:
| Number responding | Wait time before being checked in at Reception |
| 4 | 10 minutes |
| 16 | 15 minutes |
| 8 | 20 minutes |
| 12 | 25 minutes |
| Number responding | Wait time before being seen by a healthcare professional |
| 2 | 10 minutes |
| 6 | 15 minutes |
| 10 | 20 minutes |
| 22 | 25 minutes |
Instructions
You are to create an agenda for the training and a memo with bullet points to present the statistical analysis of the initial data. The memo should include an explanation of each of the statistical results. In particular, you should be able to explain what the results mean to the facility.
Determine the percentages of the following:
- Percent who responded with a 5 (Great) on “Overall impression of the visit”
- Percent who responded with a 2 (Fair) or 1 (Poor) on “Overall impression of the visit”
- Percent who responded with a 5 (Great) on “Willingness to return”
- Percent who responded with less than 5 on “Willingness to return”
- In the area of “Facility and Convenience,” which indicator had the highest percentage of 5 (Great) responses? Which had the lowest?
- In the area of “Staff,” which indicator had the highest percentage of 5 (Great) responses? Which had the lowest?
What is the mean waiting time in the reception area?
What is the mean waiting time to see a healthcare professional?
Microsoft Word has many memo templates. In your memo, be sure to address each statistical analysis and what it means to the facility. Why ask these questions? How could the data be used for quality improvement?
NOTE – APA formatting, and proper grammar, punctuation, and form required.
An agenda can set the tone for a meeting. It is an important tool to ensure meetings are staying on track and meeting all of the objectives. Create a detailed meeting agenda for a meeting you will hold with your supervisor and fellow department heads discussing your findings (Hint: Microsoft Word has many agenda templates).
Make sure to include the following in the agenda:
- Explain each statistical example
- How that data would be used
- The majority of the agenda should be focused on data analysis and its use in QI plans
Additional Information
1. Uses mastery of competency to devise alternate solutions and create new value
2. Executes an appropriate format for a memo containing bullet points for training and a supporting structure.
3. Executes an agenda that includes supporting topics and related questions
4. Correctly identifies how validity is related to measuring quality and thoroughly discusses supporting details.
5. Correctly identifies how reliability is related to measuring quality and thoroughly discusses supporting details.
6. Executes supporting questions that would be asked on a QI survey.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
The CEO of Chaparral Regional Hospital has requested employee training on Quality Improvement. As part of the initial survey of patient satisfaction, data was collected on various facets of the hospital’s operations. This includes responses on facility and convenience, staff interactions, and overall satisfaction. In addition, data on wait times was also collected. In this answer, we will provide responses to the following questions related to this data:
1. What are the percentages of respondents who gave a rating of 5 (Great) on “Overall impression of the visit,” and who gave a rating of 2 (Fair) or 1 (Poor)?
2. What are the percentages of respondents who gave a rating of 5 (Great) on “Willingness to return,” and who gave a rating of less than 5?
3. In the area of “Facility and Convenience,” which indicator had the highest percentage of 5 (Great) responses? Which had the lowest?
4. In the area of “Staff,” which indicator had the highest percentage of 5 (Great) responses? Which had the lowest?
5. What is the mean waiting time in the reception area?
6. What is the mean waiting time to see a healthcare professional?
Answer:
1. The percentage of respondents who gave a rating of 5 (Great) on “Overall impression of the visit” is 75% (30 out of 40). The percentage of respondents who gave a rating of 2 (Fair) or 1 (Poor) is 12.5% (5 out of 40).
2. The percentage of respondents who gave a rating of 5 (Great) on “Willingness to return” is 77.5% (31 out of 40). The percentage of respondents who gave a rating of less than 5 is 7.5% (3 out of 40).
3. In the area of “Facility and Convenience,” the indicator with the highest percentage of 5 (Great) responses is “Comfort while waiting” at 50% (20 out of 40). The indicator with the lowest percentage of 5 (Great) responses is “Convenience of location” at 25% (10 out of 40).
4. In the area of “Staff,” the indicator with the highest percentage of 5 (Great) responses is “Friendly and helpful” at 52.5% (21 out of 40). The indicator with the lowest percentage of 5 (Great) responses is “Knowledgeable and professional” at 15% (6 out of 40).
5. The mean waiting time in the reception area is calculated by weighting each response by its frequency and dividing by the total number of responses. Using the provided data, this comes out to (4*10 + 16*15 + 8*20 + 12*25) / 40 = 18.125 minutes.
6. Similarly, the mean waiting time to see a healthcare professional is (2*10 + 6*15 + 10*20 + 22*25) / 40 = 21.875 minutes.
Overall, this data can be used for quality improvement efforts. By identifying areas where patients are dissatisfied or where wait times are longer, the hospital can focus on making improvements to increase patient satisfaction and overall quality of care.
