policy proposal

Write a 4-6-page policy proposal and practice guidelines for improving quality and performance associated with the benchmark metric underperformance you advocated for improving in Assessment 1.(my paper is below)

Benchmark Dashboard Evaluation

In most countries, the government governs and manages the healthcare sector because it involves essential operations that require delicate care and attention to detail. Mistakes in the industry can be life-threatening if they occur. As such, various government agencies take part in the different areas of healthcare provision to the people. To set the pace and guide both public and private-owned medical centers, the government at the local, state, and federal levels has set some laws and policies to which such institutions must adhere to ensure good performance and proper service delivery to its people (Kuznestova et.,al, 2021). Some of these laws are published in the country’s constitution; thus, anyone who breaks them is subject to punishment by law. The healthcare ethical code of conduct is one of such laws which contains acts and clauses that dictate how a healthcare provider should perform in a professional capacity, maintain good moral values in the place of work and be a socially responsible being when interacting with patients’ colleagues in their workplaces. The ethics code of conduct also has special clauses that highlight the role of a healthcare provider to the society or community in which they serve.

However, the laws and policies alone can evaluate the performance of individual professionals or entire organizations in the healthcare center. As such, the government has come up with unique dashboard benchmarks that have been set for use at the local, state, or federal levels to evaluate various dashboard metrics. These benchmarks are used to assess the internal environment and facilities of the healthcare institution, its competitiveness when compared to that of others in the country, how functional the organization is in care provision and service delivery, and the general processes the institution is involved in. Data dashboards (dashboard metrics) contain a wide ray of information for professionals and the general public. It is easy to access data dashboards of various healthcare institutions from their system, thus a fast, adaptable and practical research tool (Zhuang et.,al, 2022).

An organization compares its dashboard metrics with those of other similar institutions or those set by the government to know their performance and determine areas that need improvement. Failure of a dashboard metric to meet these benchmarks calls for an action plan used to improve the situation as it is considered an underperformance (Zhuang et., al, 2022). In such cases, an underperformance illustrates the institution’s incapability to provide quality care to the patients as required by the government. Such data dashboards used in the evaluation include patient characteristics, processes, volume, and outcomes, among other categories (Kuznetsova et., al, 2021). They evaluate task performance, system implementation, potential utility, perceived engagement, behavior change, and algorithm performance. The four main national benchmarks for healthcare include improving customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, maintaining quality, and improving patient safety.

The Mercy medical center data dashboards for patient characteristics show that the hospital provides care services to a good population with an almost equal number of male and female patients. However, considering the total population of Shakopee, which is approximately at 50,000 people in 2022, the total number of patients received in a year is lower than the expected benchmark. The population of female patients is slightly higher than that of the males as there are more females in the region than males. The age group of people who visit the institution for medical care services comprises youth between ages 21-44 and children and young adults below 20 years, which complies with the benchmark since the median age for Shakopee County is 34 years (Mercy Medical Center Nationally Recognized with an “A” for the Spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, n.d.). It thus falls under the age group with the most people. Regarding race, the medical center shows an underperformance after recording a deficient number of Caucasian patients despite them being the most abundant in the county occupying over 70% of the total population of Shakopee. Instead, the hospital welcomes many patients from other races who barely constitute 30% of the total population. (Shakopee, MN | Data USA, n.d.)

Meeting prescribed benchmarks can pose various challenges to the organization. A good example is a pressure on the staff and the need for additional resources and support services by the institution to meet the demand in the population it should serve. For mercy medical center to do a good fraction of Shakopee’s population, it has to direct its finances and operations towards adding more rooms, staff, and facilities that are used to cater to all patients, which is a big challenge considering most of the hospital’s expenditure mainly goes to improving patient care and maintaining its standards as one of the top medical and surgical care providers in the country at large (Find Top Hospitals near Shakopee, MN | Healthgrades, n.d.). The lack of enough support services, resources, and staff in the hospital contributes to its benchmark underperformance. It cannot serve a good fraction of Shakopee’s population because there are potentially not enough staff hired in the hospital to cater to such a population.

The hospital’s underperformance in providing care to a low population of caucasian people despite them occupying the most significant percentage of Shakopee’s population has a high potential to improve the overall quality performance of the hospital which is because the hospital will be associated with a good reputation of offering quality medical care evenly to people from all races concerning their percentage abundance in the region’s population. With the recent increase of racism cases, improving on proving its services to more Caucasian people will put the organization on the frontline in favor of all people, thus directly increasing the income it generates, making it the number one people’s choice to win various awards in the healthcare industry as well as improve its functionality to serve people in discriminatively. The organization can increase the number of Caucasian people seeking treatment by advertising its services to the communities and welcoming them. They can also lower the cost of medicine in the organization and advice the communities to work with insurance agencies to get medical covers that can help them acquire services from the institution without fear of having enormous hospital debts due to the cost incurred during treatment which will encourage more Caucasian people to seek assistance from the institution, thus improving their performance significantly.

Failure to provide its services to a larger population is the most widespread benchmark underperformance. It also affects the most significant number of patients and staff since there are not enough staff and facilities to cater to the large number of patients who need medical services in the hospital, which is solved through the expansion of the institution by erecting new buildings to host the hospital rooms, operation and medical rooms among others for patients and the staff in the hospital thus increasing the holding capacity of the hospital and improve the quality of care it will provide to the new population that the organization will be able to handle.

To address benchmark underperformance by the institution, ethical actions should be taken by the leaders of various interprofessional teams within the organization. Such activities include developing a positive relationship with the residents and employing effective marketing strategies to increase awareness of the services offered by the institution and show that everyone is welcome to acquire these services (Zhuang et., al, 2022). The hospital can hold charity forums on specific days where people are invited to receive medical services for free or at discounted prices to earn sound public opinion. The professional teams in the hospital should also reflect cultural diversity and avoid elimination by having members from different races and religious groups other than those of the Christian Catholic faith.

References

Find top hospitals near Shakopee, MN | Healthgrades. (n.d.). Www.healthgrades.com. https://www.healthgrades.com/hospital-directory/mn-minnesota/shakopee

Mercy Medical Center Nationally Recognized with an “A” for the Spring 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. (n.d.). Www.newswise.com. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.newswise.com/articles/mercy-medical-center-nationally-recognized-with-an-a-for-the-spring-2021-leapfrog-hospital-safety-grade

Kuznetsova, M., Frits, M. L., Dulgarian, S., Iannaccone, C., Mort, E., Bates, D. W., & Salmasian, H. (2021). An analysis of the structure and content of dashboards used to monitor patient safety in the inpatient setting. JAMIA open, 4(4), ooab096.

Shakopee, MN | Data USA. (n.d.). Datausa.io. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://datausa.io/profile/geo/shakopee-mn

Zhuang, M., Concannon, D., & Manley, E. (2022). A framework for evaluating dashboards in healthcare. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 28(4), 1715-1731.

Introduction

In advocating for institutional policy changes related to local, state, or federal health care laws or policies, health leaders must be able to develop and present clear and well-written policy and practice guideline proposals that will enable a team, a unit, or an organization as a whole to resolve relevant performance issues and bring about improvements in the quality and safety of health care. This assessment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes.

As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you have a valuable viewpoint and voice to bring to discussions about policy development, both inside and outside your care setting. Developing policy for internal purposes can be a valuable process toward quality and safety improvement, as well as ensuring compliance with various health care regulatory pressures. This assessment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes.

Propose organizational policy and practice guidelines that you believe will lead to an improvement in quality and performance associated with the benchmark underperformance you advocated for improving in Assessment 1. Be precise, professional, and persuasive in demonstrating the merit of your proposed actions.

Requirements

The policy proposal requirements outlined below correspond to the scoring guide criteria, so be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, be sure to note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence.

• Explain the need for creating a policy and practice guidelines to address a shortfall in meeting a benchmark metric prescribed by local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.

• • What is the current benchmark for the organization and the numeric score for the underperformance?
  • How is the benchmark underperformance potentially affecting the provision of quality care or the operations of the organization?
  • What are the potential repercussions of not making any changes?

• • • What evidence supports your conclusions?
• Recommend ethical, evidence-based practice guidelines to improve targeted benchmark performance prescribed by applicable local, state, or federal health care policy or law.

• • What does the evidence-based literature suggest are potential strategies to improve performance for your targeted benchmark?
  • How would these strategies ensure performance improvement or compliance with applicable local, state, or federal health care policy or law?
  • How would you propose to apply these strategies in the context of Eagle Creek Hospital or your own practice setting?
  • How can you ensure these strategies are ethical and culturally inclusive in their application?
• Analyze the potential effects of environmental factors on your recommended practice guidelines.

• • What regulatory considerations could affect your recommended guidelines?
  • What resources could affect your recommended guidelines (staffing, financial, and logistical considerations, or support services)?
• Explain why particular stakeholders and groups must be involved in further development and implementation of your proposed policy and practice guidelines.

• • Why is it important to engage these stakeholders and groups?
  • How can their participation produce a stronger policy and facilitate its implementation?
• Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.

• • Proofread your proposal, before you submit it, to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your proposal.
• Use paraphrasing and summarization to represent ideas from external sources.

• • Be sure to apply correct APA formatting to source citations and references.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like:

• Assessment 2 Example [PDF]. See sample below

Policy Proposal Format and Length

It may be helpful to use a template or format for your proposal that is used in your current organization. The risk management or quality department could be a good resource for finding an appropriate template or format. If you are not currently in practice, or your organization does not have these resources, many appropriate templates are freely available on the Internet.

Your policy should be succinct (about one paragraph). Overall, your proposal should be 4–6 pages in length.

Supporting Evidence

Cite 3–5 references to relevant research, case studies, or best practices to support your analysis and recommendations.

Note: Faculty may use the Writing Feedback Tool when grading this assessment. The Writing Feedback Tool is designed to provide you with guidance and resources to develop your writing based on five core skills. You will find writing feedback in the Scoring Guide for the assessment, once your work has been evaluated.

Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save your policy proposal to your ePortfolio.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze relevant health care laws, policies, and regulations; their application; and their effects on organizations, interprofessional teams, and professional practice.

• • Analyze the potential effects of environmental factors on recommended practice guidelines.
• Competency 2: Lead the development and implementation of ethical and culturally sensitive policies that improve health outcomes for individuals, organizations, and populations.

• • Recommend ethical, evidence-based practice guidelines to improve targeted benchmark performance prescribed by applicable local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.
• Competency 3: Evaluate relevant indicators of performance, such as benchmarks, research, and best practices, to inform health care laws and policies for patients, organizations, and populations.

• • Explain the need for creating a policy to address a shortfall in meeting a benchmark metric prescribed by local, state, or federal health care policies or laws.
• Competency 4: Develop strategies to work collaboratively with policy makers, stakeholders, and colleagues to address environmental (governmental and regulatory) forces.

• • Explain why particular stakeholders and groups must be involved in further development and implementation of a proposed policy and practice guidelines.
• Competency 5: Produce clear, coherent, and professional written work, in accordance with Capella’s writing standards.

• • Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions.
  • Use paraphrasing and summarization to represent ideas from external sources.