Quality Improvement in Healthcare Organizations

Have you ever though that healthcare quality could be improved - either where you get health care treatment or where you delivery health care? Have you ever thought that there should be a way for you to determine the relative quality of your choices? Have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way for you to provide your view and input on the quality of healthcare organization? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to continuously and systematically improve the quality of your healthcare organization? If you have, this course is for you.Course content includes an overview of quality and quality improvement programs, measures, and data in healthcare organizations. The course provides links to external sites to connect you to the larger “real world” of healthcare organization quality and quality improvement. The links also serve as resources you can take with you after you complete the course experience. And because everyone loves a road trip/field trip, there are also “virtual field trips” to the often hidden places of interest on the web.

The course format is readings, videos, quizzes, and a project. The project requires you to synthesize course material to design a quality improvement program for a healthcare organization the way you would have things run in the best of all worlds. The design (submitted as an electronic spreadsheet) is an artifact of the course which you can circulate to colleagues or use as the basis for talks or presentations.

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Syllabus

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Lesson One: Definition of Quality and Quality Improvement in Healthcare Organizations
Week 2
Lesson Two: Quality and Quality Improvement Measures in Healthcare Organizations
Week 3
Lesson Three: Data Collection and Analysis Methodologies for Quality and Quality Improvement Measures in Healthcare Organizations
Week 4
Lesson Four: Design a Healthcare Organization Quality Improvement Program

FAQ

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

How can certificate learners communicate directly with the instructor?

There are two ways to communicate directly with the instructor – one private (seen only by you and the instructor) and one public (seen by the instructor and all learners in the course). The private communication is via the comment feature within the course. The instructor sees all comments and will attempt to respond to each comment within 24 hours. The instructor also provides a direct email address with the response should future communication be needed or of interest. The public communication is via the course Feedback Discussion Forums. The instructor tries to respond to all comments in the Feedback Discussion Forums within 24 hours.

Why are sections of the course marked CERT], INFO], PREP], and FUN]?

Each section of the course is marked to indicate its relevance to the work required to obtain the certificate. The markings are:

CERT]: the section contains work which you must successfully complete to obtain the certificate.

INFO]: the section provides information relevant to the work required for the certificate.

PREP]: the section provides practice for the certificate work.

FUN]:the section provides either: 1) interesting additional information which is supplemental, but not needed for the certificate; 2) an opportunity to post your comments on a specified topic for discussion with course colleagues, if you choose to do so; or 3) an opportunity to provide feedback on the course, if you choose to do so. If you are not interested in the FUN] sections, skip them.

For certificate learners, what is required to earn the certificate for the course?

The short answer is that certificate learners need to successfully complete the six course sections marked CERT]. These are:

Quiz: CERT] Lesson One Quiz

Quiz: CERT] Lesson Two Quiz

Quiz: CERT] Lesson Three Quiz

Quiz: CERT] Synthesize Course Content Self-Evaluation

Quiz: CERT] Generate an Effective Spreadsheet Self-Evaluation

Peer Review: CERT] Spreadsheet Submission and Evaluation

The Lesson One Quiz, Lesson Two Quiz, and Lesson Three Quiz are each open book, open note. You can take each quiz as many times as you want.

The self-evaluation “quizzes” are your own self-evaluation of the work that you have developed for the Peer Review project. The purpose of the self-evaluations is to ensure that all of the required elements of the peer review submission are completed before submission.

The Peer Review project is the capstone project for the course. The capstone project for the course requires learners to critically synthesize the material from the course and communicate/present the synthesized material to their learner colleagues. Each project is presented to learner colleagues via the peer-review feature and each learner evaluates the project of two learner colleagues.

The peer-review feature is chosen because each project is presented from the perspective of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that healthcare organization. One skill required of all CEOs is the ability to communicate/present their thinking and conclusions to others and expect evaluation and feedback. Another skill required of all CEOs is the ability to critically evaluate the presentation, thinking, and conclusions of others.

What is the best way to earn the certificate for this course (specialization) as quickly as possible?

Everyone - and I mean everyone including the instructor for this (the) course(s) - who needs to pass a test or evaluation to obtain something (e.g., driver's license, specific grade, a certificate) wants to know at the beginning of the process how best to complete that process quickly, efficiently, and successfully.

This process for earning the certificate for the course is specified at the beginning of the course in a section entitled” STEP-BY-STEP FAST-TRACK PATHWAY TO THE CERTIFICATE’ which is a step-by-step instructor recommended 12-step pathway to successfully complete work required to obtain the certificate as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Why is the course format different from those of other Coursera courses?

The format for the course is different from most of the other Coursera courses. Most of the Coursera courses present course content through video lectures. This course presents course content through INFO] readings (text). Links to optional FUN] material, including videos, external to the course are included in the text.

The primary reason this format was chosen is because it allows each learner to better establish an individual learning pathway; it allows each learner to better customize what is learned and how learning occurs. Each learner can easily see the content topics for a lesson/module and easily reorder how they are read or merely skim those of little interest.

However, for those who wish a more in-depth knowledge of a topic, the embedded links take that learner to websites external to the course with additional information. The use of embedded links makes full use of the fact that the course is delivered online – and that there is a world of interesting, useful, and in-depth information external to the course.

Readings/text INFO] content is presented as a series of questions and answers - the Socratic Method. The philosophy behind the use of this method is that this is a better - and much more interesting - way for a learner to master content.

There are videos in the course. These are professionally produced videos (e.g., from the Smithsonian, National Archives) which are included in the course to provide interesting supplemental - optional FUN] - content. No video-presented content is needed to complete the work for the certificate. As with the FUN] links to external material, the use of these optional FUN] videos allows learners to create their own learning pathway and customize their learning experience.

For those who prefer an audio, as opposed to a reading/text, version of the course, is one available?

Yes, for certificate learners. For certificate learners, a PDF of the course content is available. This PDF can be read (text-to-speech) using the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Read-Out-Loud feature. Instructions for use of the Read-Out-Loud feature and the provided PDF are provided within the course.

Why are trivia questions and virtual field trips included within the course?

The instructor believes that almost everyone loves trivia questions and road/field trips. So included in the course are FUN] trivia questions regarding interesting, fun facts and FUN] "virtual field trips" to the often hidden places of interest on the web. If you are not a fan of either trivia questions or virtual road/field trips, skip these sections of the course.

What is the course goal and what are the course objectives?

The goal of the course is to enable you to think critically about all aspects of healthcare administration in disciplined, critical, and productive ways. Upon successful completion of the course, those who interact in healthcare organizations as patients/consumers will have a better understanding of the issues involved in the effective administration of healthcare organizations and operations. Those working in the healthcare industry, upon completion of the course, will be better able to contribute to the effective administration of the healthcare organization’s operations.

Specifically, upon successful completion of the course, the following objectives will be achieved.You will be able to:

1. Define quality and quality improvement in healthcare organizations

2. Define quality and quality improvement measures in healthcare organizations

3. Define data collection and analysis methodologies for quality and quality improvement measures in healthcare organization

4. Synthesize course content to create a quality improvement program in a healthcare organization

5. Generate an effective quality improvement spreadsheet suitable for discussion, presentation and printing

6. Judge the quality (content and format) of the spreadsheet

After completing this course, what course should I complete next?

Upon completion of this course, you might want to take another course in the Healthcare Organization Operations specialization. The four courses are:

Healthcare Organizations and the Health System

Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations

Business Process Management in Healthcare Organizations

Quality Improvement in Healthcare Organizations

Each course is a stand-alone course; the courses do not build on each other - they complement each other. No one course in the specialization is a prerequisite for another course. If you choose to enroll in all four courses to receive the specialization certificate, the courses can be completed in any order.

However, the course may inspire you to set a different learning pathway for yourself. You may wish to study one of the topics addressed in the course is more depth. The embedded links may lead you to a source of that in-depth knowledge. Also check the Coursera catalogue to see other Coursera courses.

For whom is this course recommended? Who would benefit most from completing this course?

This course is intended for anyone interested in the world of healthcare organization in the United States. A range of healthcare organizations are discussed (e.g., medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and public health). The course is particularly useful to anyone working in the healthcare industry who either has: 1) a developing interest in the issues important to the administration of healthcare organization operations; or 2) some expertise, but wishes an overview or refresher of these issues. However, those who do not work in the healthcare industry, but who interact with healthcare organizations of any type as patients/consumers will also find the course informative.

Upon completion of the course, those who interact with healthcare organizations as patients/consumers will have a better understanding of the issues involved in the effective administration of healthcare organizations and operations. Those working in the healthcare industry, upon completion of the specialization, will be better able to contribute to the effective administration of the healthcare organization’s operations.

What background knowledge is necessary to successfully complete the course? Are there prerequisites?

No background knowledge is necessary to successfully complete the course. All that is necessary to begin and successfully complete each course in the specialization is an interest in the content and a motivation to complete the course. However, those working in the healthcare industry may find the content more interesting and relevant.

Who is the photographer for the photo used for the course logo and page icon?

The photo is a composite of photos downloaded from Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/) by Natanael Melchor, Umari Bethan, and Adhy Savala.

Will I earn university credit for completing this course?

No, neither Rutgers University academic credit nor continuing education units (CEUs) are earned upon the successful completion of the course.

Is this a course on healthcare insurance to cover healthcare costs?

No, this is not a course on healthcare insurance. This is course from the perspective of the healthcare organization on organizational administration and operations. This is not a course on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which is often called Obamacare. The instructor for this course has taught courses from the patient/customer perspective on methods for paying for health care. This is not that course, however, this course is a good prerequisite for an ACA course. The patient/customer perspective on payment methods is a difficult and involved topic. If you are interested in that topic, please check the Coursera catalog or contact the instructor.

English is not my first language. Is a version of the course available in any language other than English?

The course assessments are in American English. The project submission must be in American English. All links to external resources are to resources presented in American English. The course focuses on healthcare organizations in the United States. However, some people may find it useful to read some or all course content in a language other than American English.

Translation of required course material from written American English to another language is possible using the provided PDF of the course and Google Translate.An Adobe PDF file of the course content is available to certificate learners.This PDF can be used to produce a written version of the course in many different languages using Google Translate.Instructions are provided within the course.

Reviews

THIS COURSE WAS SO KNOWLEDGEABLE AND VERY INFORMATIVE. I WOULD LIKE TO THANKS TO COURSERA FOR GIVING THIS PRECIOUS OPPORCHUNITY FOR INCREASE MY CREDIBILITY ONE STEP UP.

I was surprised at how much content this course offered.

Relevant to my chosen field of work. Familiar with some concepts but it really broadened my insight

Very informative and above excellence learning platform!