Quality Improvement Plan Paper
Reduction in the occurrence of medication errors is among the significant moves an organization can take in ensuring the quality of care provided, improved patient outcome and
satisfaction (Abeysena, 2017). The occurrence of medication errors has been linked to various factors, including human errors or systemic problems. To improve the operations of the
organization, there is a need to address the human and systemic problems. Concerning delays in discharging the patients, the systemic approach will address the issue on top of liaising with the insurers to release funds in time.
The budget of the improvement plan
In the improvement plan, installment of the electronic medication order system is
considered. Prescriptions will be sent electronically from the physicians the pharmacy. The
pharmacists will confirm the prescriptions given match the patient clinical information,
laboratory test findings, and diagnosis. When dispensing medication, the barcoding system will
be used, ensuring the right medicines are dispensed to the right patient at the correct dosage.
Drugs will be dispensed with patient wrist bands so as the nurses will observe the five patients’
rights when administering medication. All the staff dealing with the prescription, dispensing, and
administration of medication will be engaged in a training exercise. This is to ensure the staff
uses the system to be introduced effectively to avoid occurrence more errors related to
mishandling of the system, especially the wrong entry of patient data. The patients will be
educated by the other staff on the importance of keeping their wrist bands safe for coding during
drug administration.
Cost of Improvement
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Purchase fee for the instruments- $800,000
Installment fee- $500, 000 per year
Staff training fee- $70, 000 per year
Maintenance fee- $50,000 per year
Convenience fee during the meeting with insurers- $48,000 per year
The benefit of Improvement:
Medication error case management cost approximately- $30, 000per person.
Total cost of 70 patients =$ 2,100,000 per year
Overall savings $ per year= $ 632,000
Benefits of the improvement plan.
The improvement plan will go a long way to ensure delivery of safe services within the
organization through minimization of medication errors relating to human mistakes, dispensing
of medication. Miscommunication between pharmacists and physicians due to poor handwriting
in the course of prescription, leading to dispensing of wrong medication will be avoided
(Illingworth, 2015). This will increase not only the outcome of the patients but also their
satisfaction. A long time is taken by patients before being discharged home will be significantly
reduced after the insurer's consent to be releasing hospital funds in time. Installment of electronic
medication system will enable all patient charges to reflect at ago reducing the time the billing
personnel takes before releasing the patient hospital bills.
Dollar value on time saved, value, and input saved.
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Reduction of medication errors indicates more than just improved quality of care, patient
outcome, safety, and satisfaction (Abeysena, 2017). To the care providers, the reduction of
medication errors reduces workload. The time taken to attend to patients suffering from adverse
events and complications as a result of medication errors is saved. Instead, the clinicians will
have enough time to concentrate on other patients giving them maximum attention. Together
with the reduced time taken to discharge, patients will attract more clients to seek healthcare
services from the organization. Therefore, as more clients will be visiting the facility and be
attended to, the organization will generate more revenue. Extra funds that are spent by the
organization to cater to the increased needs of individuals suffering from complications and
adverse events resulting from medication errors will also be cut. The more revenue generated
plus the saved revenue will be directed towards supporting more developmental projects within
the organization.
Without the improvement plan in place, the organization spends approximately $
2,100,000 per year on catering for adverse events and complications resulting from medication
errors. Compared to the improvement plan that will cost approximately $ 1,468, going for the
improvement plan is much cheaper. The improvement plan is carried out once while the
management of complications and adverse events resulting from the occurrence of medication
errors occurs over and over again if correct measures are not put in place. Through the
improvement plan, the organization will save a total of approximately $ 632,000 for the starting
year and even more in the subsequent years. This on top of attracting more customers due to
improved services such as patients spending less time waiting for the discharging process to be
complete.
Conclusion.
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From the analysis of the quality improvement plan above, doing nothing cannot be an
alternative. Something has to be done before the organization continuous to lose a lot in terms of
resources and customers due to the low-quality services evident through the increased occurrence
of medication errors and delays in patient discharge. Burn out of staff due to overworking at the
billing office, pharmacy, and clinical setting will also be reduced. Patients will be served
efficiently in time with no or minimal errors occurring. Therefore, it is crucial for the
administrative personnel and project management department to consider implementing the
suggested improvement plan for the benefit of the organization.
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References
Abeysena, C. (2017). Strengthening the health system to improve the quality of care and patient
safety.
Illingworth, J. (2015). Continuous improvement of patient safety. The case for change in the
NHS. London: The Health Foundation.
