Improving Quality in Outpatient Services

About the Book

A valuable reference for those involved in the field of ambulatory patient care, Improving Quality in Outpatient Services offers time-tested instruction on how to create a world-class outpatient program. It supplies a high-level overview of current opportunities, national quality programs, and challenges--outlining the policies, procedures, and plans required for success. Stimulating readers with a wealth of practical applications, stories, and examples, the book details the governance, medical staff, and quality structures required to create, implement, and maintain a safe and efficient outpatient program. It introduces powerful techniques for infection control, medication management, risk prevention, and the elimination of medication errors. It also: Lists mandatory policies and procedures Contains practice drills to prepare you for real-world scenarios Explains how to create a report card to measure quality at all levels Includes a sample curriculum that outlines the courseware required by OSHA and other licensing and regulatory agencies The authors address documentation and human resources factors and supply an abundance of information and resources in the appendices, including how and where to apply for certification, medical record review tools, policy and procedure checklists, and a state-by-state listing of resources available for outpatient and ambulatory programs. Explaining how to involve patients in the decision making process, the text details a proven system for evaluating quality at all levels of your organization.

Table of Contents:

Defining Outpatient Healthcare. Creating a Structure for Quality and Safety. Engineering the Customer Connection. Policies, Procedures, and Plans. The Human Resource Factor. Measuring Quality and SafetyMeasurement. Medication Safety. Infection Prevention in the Ambulatory Setting. Clinical Documentation. Risk Management and Safety. Licensing, Deemed Status, Accreditation, and Certification. Practice Makes Perfect. Appendices: Checklist on Policies, Procedures, and Plans for an Outpatient Setting. Quality Glossary. Quality Reporting Measures. Infection Prevention Plan Example. Risk Assessment. Medical Record Review Criteria Audit. Safety Management Program. Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action Plan. State Contacts for Ambulatory Licensing and Standards. Patient Education Pathway Example.

About the Author :
Carole Guinane is a healthcare executive with extensive experience in all aspects of clinical operations, risk management, quality, compliance, regulations, accreditations, medical staff affairs, and insurance in the acute care inpatient and outpatient setting. Ms. Guinane has over 30 years of experience helping organizations with people and process issues. She has published widely and is nationally recognized as a writer, speaker, consultant and change agent and trainer on topics such as clinical improvement and innovation, leadership, systems thinking, strategic planning, customer-mindedness, Six Sigma, creating a corporate culture, working through change and clinical pathways. Ms. Guinane is a licensed RN and a Six Sigma Black Belt. She also serves on the editorial board for the Heart Hospital Journal and the Journal for Healthcare Quality. Noreen Davis, RN, MPH is currently the Directory of Quality Outcomes Management for CMC-Union where she has fiscal and supervisory responsibility for Performance Improvement, patient safety, case management and infection prevention and control. She is also responsible for all National Quality Measure data collection and reporting and is the liaison with the medical staff for evidence based order sets. Ms. Davis is a published author and has completed her black belt in Six Sigma. She is a member of the NAHQ (National Association for Healthcare Quality) and holds a Masters of Public Health from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Review :
! hits the mark as both a roadmap and practical guide. ! Carole Guinane and Noreen Davis bring a wealth of practical experience to the table ! . Their nursing backgrounds coupled with their strong business and public health experiences in ambulatory care provide a foundation for understanding critical segments of the industry where change is sweeping through the care delivery model. !provides both a broad visionary direction for where we need to go in outpatient care management but also provides the details which must be considered as part of our efforts to lead the future of healthcare delivery. --Kevin Fickenscher, MD