Quality Management and Control

Zanderville Healthcare Systems, a regional acute care facility in the foothills of the Appalachians, is committed to delivering quality healthcare to its local and neighboring communities. The population it serves is diverse by gender and ethnicity. The primary payer for healthcare services is CMS. Over the past six months, the acute care facility has experienced a 25 % increase in readmissions from this payer group within the first 30 days of discharge. The economic impact on the health system has been negative, and patients’ satisfaction with their hospital experience has declined. Senior leadership has charged you, the nurse executive, to convene an ad-hoc task force to perform an outcomes audit and propose an intervention. Currently, patients receive a follow-up telephone call about 7 days following discharge. You decide to use an evidence-based practice approach and have the following information for the “working” PICOT:

P: CMS patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge

I: What will we do differently to impact the improved outcome

(State what this is)

C: Follow-up phone call 7 days after discharge

O: Reduce readmission rate of CMS patients from ____ to ____…..

T: Over next six months

If this were happening in your organization, discuss:

Whom will you include in your task force?

What outcomes measures will you audit?

Where will you obtain the data to determine your baseline and goal regarding the percentage of readmissions within 30 days of discharge?

What specific outcome do you want to achieve?

What standard or benchmark will you use for the outcome? What does your organization use as a benchmark for readmissions within 30 days of discharge?

Describe the intervention you will use to achieve your goal.

Then, restate the completed PICOT using the information you have collected related to the intervention and outcomes.  

o Demonstrate application of scholarly resources. 

§ Provide relevant evidence of two scholarly resources in the initial post, clearly stating how the evidence informed or changed professional or academic decisions.

§ One scholarly resource must be from a nursing peer-reviewed journal.

o Demonstrate application of course knowledge. 

§ Demonstrate the ability to analyze, synthesize, and/or apply principles and concepts learned in the course lesson and outside readings and relate them to real-life, professional situations.