Improving Patient Care Assignment

Improving Patient Care Assignment
Improving Patient Care Assignment
Improving Patient Care Assignment
Week 2 Informatics in Improving Patient Care Presentation Using Kaltura, create a presentation that discusses the role of health informatics in improving patient care. Include an example of a new trend in digital technology that has helped improve patient care (e.g., telehealth, patient portals). Do not focus on just one topic, but include an overview of how the informatics technology you chose to research in general improves patient care. Make sure to reference at least three scholarly resources. Examples of scholarly sources include professional journal articles and books obtained from library databases, national guidelines, and informatics organizations, published within the last five years. Your presentation—created using the Kaltura recording tool—should include, audio, video, and either tool you chose an integrated PowerPoint presentation or a recording using visual aids and should be a maximum of 10 minutes in length. See the Getting Started with Kaltura link in your main menu on the left for instructions on how to use the Kaltura recording tool.
As hospital administrators know, perhaps better than anyone, hospitals are complex organizations. Communication is a constant challenge, and it can take several months to implement even the smallest process change. After all of the paperwork, training and follow-up reviews, you may begin to question whether your amendments are truly improving the workspace, or simply adding more madness to the mayhem.
However, while failure to comply with some procedures, such as organizing supplies, may be a source of frustration, other procedures, such as those focused on patient-centered care, can have a major impact on your hospital’s success.
Here are a few ways you can improve patient-centered care in your hospital environment, and make sure it sticks.
1. Make Sure Staff Members Understand their Roles
One of the biggest threats to achieving patient-centered care in the workplace is each employee believing it’s up to someone else. The front desk staff thinks it’s the responsibility of the floor nurses. The floor nurses think it’s the responsibility of the physicians. It’s an age-old game of “pass the buck.” However, for patient-centered care to be successful, everyone must take full responsibility. From treating patients with courtesy and respect to making sure all needs are met prior to discharge, everyone plays a crucial part. Your primary role is to make sure they understand theirs.
2. Set Department-Wide and Hospital-Wide Goals
There’s a reason nearly every company in every industry sets goals for employees: because they work. Objectives motivate staff members both individually and as a team. Hospitals are full of goal-oriented individuals. After all, you’ve got to hit quite a few benchmarks to achieve a career in the healthcare industry.
The best way to tie everything together is to create goals around . What score do you need to achieve as a floor? A unit? An organization? Set the bar high, and people will rise to the occasion.
3. Reward the Champions
In addition to setting goals, rewards are a powerful motivator. When an employee sees others receiving recognition, he feels compelled to work harder and achieve his own recognition. According to , 60 percent of Best-in-Class organizations rated employee recognition as “extremely valuable” in driving individual performance.
If an employee is consistently meeting goals, earning accolades from patients and their families, offering genuine emotional support, focusing on and ensuring patients are fully educated before leaving the hospital, make an example of her!
4. Set Clear Guidelines
The best way to make sure your hospital staff follows new procedures is to make them easy to digest. Clarity is key. Write up processes, and include specific examples on how to accomplish the pillars of patient-centered care, such as involving approved family in case decisions, making physical comfort a top priority and educating the patient. For example, for patient comfort, suggest care providers make use of measures such as .
Most importantly, though, ensure everyone has the opportunity to ask questions so you can quickly clear up misunderstandings.