As a current or future health care administrator, what types of information are necessary to determine the need for an improvement initiative within an HSO? How might a health care administrator use this information to propose an improvement initiative for an HSO?

Planning, designing, and implementing improvement initiatives in HSOs requires that the health care administrator understands how to propose changes that will contribute to effective health care delivery. However, the health care administrator must also balance efforts to ensure that effective business practices and operations coincide with enhanced improvement initiatives for the HSO. As you examine approaches that health care administrators use to enact improvement initiatives in HSOs, you will begin to develop a unique skill set necessary for effective health care administration practice.

For this Assignment, review Case 3, “Where and How to Start?” in Chapter 7 of the text, Managing Health Services Organizations and Systems (page 226). Consider how you as a current or future health care administrator might implement an improvement initiative within an HSO. Reflect on the types of considerations, resources, and measures you might need to effectively address the status of a current improvement initiative within an HSO. Then, review the Week 2 Case Questions document in this week’s Learning Resources to complete the Assignment.

Case study: 

Assume that you are the CEO of a single HSO such as a hospital, nursing facility or HMO. It may be an HSO in your present location or elsewhere, although you must know some details about it. Use the strategic management model in figure 9.2 as a guide to determine how you would conduct a strategic assessment, including external environmental analysis and internal environmental analysis. 

Week 2 Case Questions

Designing Improvement Initiatives in Health Services Organizations

CHAPTER 7, CASE 3: “WHERE AND HOW TO START?”

QUESTIONS:

1. Critique TRH’s efforts to this point.
2. Formulate a QI initiative to raise patient satisfaction scores.
3. Develop a step-by-step plan to implement the initiative.
4. What measures should be considered in addition to those directly affecting patients?