Quality Improvement Proposal
The urgency for medical facilities to improve the quality of medical services has led to
the discovery of initiatives and reforms geared towards facilitating the realization of
organizational ultimate goals and objectives. Due to the changes in delivery services, health
records management, and payment methods, efforts to manage the costs of healthcare have
increasingly driven the care of the Patient to non-hospital settings. Current healthcare institutions
including Assisted Living depend on accessibility, reliability, integrity, and accuracy of health
records for many purposes in addition to reimbursement and the provision of quality patient care
and quality initiatives (Aloini, Cannavacciuolo, Gitto, Lettieri, Malighetti & Visintin, 2018). An
increase in medical errors that occur during documentation of records has led to new adaptation
technologies. The world is evolving with new complex and sophisticated technology; thus, for
medical facilities to be able to manage and advance they will require implementing such
technologies (Collen & Ball, 2015). Therefore, this paper discusses the medical issue
surrounding the Atrium Health Organization that pertains to delivering quality health services
and quality improvement proposal to be initiated to address the issue at hand.
Overview of the Problem
Due to the massive operations undertaken by the healthcare organization, the chosen
topic is related to helping the institution increase its quality of services and the management and
use of medical records of patients across healthcare sectors to analyze and protect patient's data
essential in providing quality healthcare services (Aloini et al., 2018). The organization has been
enjoying success for many years due to the use and combination of several health information
technologies such as EHR, Electronic Management Records, and CPOE system (Collen & Ball,
2015). According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), it is estimated that over 1.1 million patients
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die annually due to medical errors perpetuated from the insufficient knowledge of nurses on
technology system. This cost organizations over $15 million medical expenses annually in
response to finding solutions to this issue (Collen & Ball, 2015). This is observed in the current
facility, the Atrium Health Organization, which is constantly having cases of patients
complaining about medical errors.
Reasons for the Quality Improvement Initiative
Technology implementation is vital for healthcare institutes if they are going to provide
quality and affordable medical care. Through the significant challenge facing the Atrium Health
Organization in regards to the quality of medical services offered to patients by medical
professionals, it becomes a necessity to implement the quality improvement initiative (Silver,
McQuillan, Harel, Weizman, Thomas, Nesrallah... & Chertow, 2016). Medical errors
experienced in the healthcare system have prompt initiatives aimed at adapting to new methods
of technology that will enhance the accuracy and clarity of patients' information and collegiality
of diagnosis and treatment among health care providers. The invention of technology systems
such as EHR and CPOE systems has helped to optimize health outcomes for its patient
population. These systems remain to be of significance in the IT unit because of their potential to
enhance the receiving and sending of treatment guidelines and medication orders electronically
through the computer system (Aloini, et al., 2018).
Support from Previous Research for the QI Initiative
Improvement of health care delivery services has been in the core heart of every medical
facility as demand for quality services as increased with an increase in the emergence of chronic
diseases that need more attention. Through previous research from different researchers, it has
proven that this initiative will help promote quality health services within medical hospitals,
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thereby enhancing patient’s outcomes. According to Collen and Ball (2015), through quality
improvement, patients can access useful and efficient medical services; it affects patients in
improving their health status thus, boosting immunity, it will also change the cost of payment
which has decreased since the quality of services has occurred in the medical centers, and
patients are now able to receive affordable health care. Based on Wik and Travis, (2015), the
community/society has also been affected by quality