Performance Based Factors And Measures For Quality Assessment Research Paper Samples

Structure measure

In the scenario, structure refers to physical equipment and facilities used in the admission process. When patients arrive at the registration or admission area, they are immediately registered. Employees whose work is to ensure that the registration and admission process proceeds smoothly meet them. The scenario above provides a number of tasks that have to be completed before the patient is admitted. The patients have to complete paperwork and provide an insurance identification card. The patient is then given a bracelet with their name and their doctor’s name. After this, the patient signs a consent form before they can be admitted. All these tasks require employees to be completed successfully. A good measure for the structure would be the number of staff present in the registration and admission departments of the facility. This is important in two ways (Belasen, 2000).
For the structure to be efficient, all the workers n the registration and admission area would have to perform their tasks effectively without overworking. If the system is inefficient, there would be too many or too few workers. The former would result in underutilizing and the latter would result in overworking the workers. The registration and admission structure is not constant. Sometimes there are few admissions while there are times when the department can be overwhelmed. The structure of the department would allow for compensating measures. When there is little work, workers can be re-assigned to help elsewhere. If the department is very busy, workers can be brought in from other departments to help. This is why the number of workers in the department at any given time can be a good structure measure.

Process measure

Process refers generally to how the task of admission takes place. As indicated, the patient first arrives in the hospital registration or admission area. Sometimes patients register before their admission date and during admission they only have to go to the admission area. The whole admission process has a number of steps, which are registration, where the patient fills paper work and provides an insurance identification card if they have one. The patient is then issued with a bracelet with the patients name and the doctor’s name. After this, the patient signs a consent form, or if not able to, a family member does so. It is only after this that the patient can be admitted. A good measure for the process would be the percentage of patients who are admitted. This is the number of patients who are successful in the process compared to the total number of patients who present themselves at the admission area (In Donchin & In Gopher 2014).
The process generally describes the systematic way in which things have to be done in order to complete the task. Because of the requirements in the admission process, some patients will not be able to be admitted because they do not comply. For example, if a patient does not have insurance or they do not sign the consent form, they cannot be admitted. If the process is very strict, the percentage of patients who are successfully admitted would be very low compared to the total number of patients who present themselves for admission. If the process were manageable, the percentage o patients who are admitted would be higher. This is why the percentage of patients who are admitted against the total who present themselves for admission would be a good measure for the process of admission.

Outcome measure

The admission process involves receiving a patient into the facility and processing their information before they can be admitted. The outcome of the admission process involves the patient being admitted into one of the wards available in the facility. Because the outcome of the whole process is the patient being admitted, one outcome measure that can be used to evaluate the admission process is the time it takes for a patient to be admitted after they have arrived. Time is very important in this instance. If a patient needs admission, it is important that all the processes that have to take place before they can be admitted take place. This is usually time consuming. It is therefore important to streamline the processes and structures involved in admission so that the patient can be admitted quickly. The result of the admission process is having a patient admitted.
Therefore, the time it takes for the admission to be done can be used as an outcome measure for the admission process. In many instances, the time taken o complete a task is usually indicative of the efficiency of carrying out the task. There are certain time limits which are acceptable to accomplish a task. If the time taken to complete the task is beyond the agreeable time limit, it is usually an indicator of a problem. There could be a problem with the task itself or a problem with the processes associated with completing the task. This is why time can be used as a good outcome measure.

References:

Belasen, A. T. (2000). Leading the learning organization: Communication and competencies for managing change. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press.
In Donchin, Y., & In Gopher, D. (2014). Around the patient bed: Human factors and safety in health care.
Sollecito, W. A., & Johnson, J. K. (2013). Mclaughlin and Kaluzny's continuous quality improvement in health care. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.