Case Assignment: Introduction to Quality Assurance and Quality Management

Assignment Overview

In all settings, health care quality processes must be designed and implemented in a way that meets or exceeds the expectations of patients. Accreditation requirements must be met or exceeded as well, and all applicable laws must be obeyed. With the bar constantly being raised on the quality and safety indicators of patient outcomes and experiences, we must be prepared to provide consistently excellent patient care experiences, to only provide necessary services, and to do all of this at the lowest cost possible.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in cooperation with the Institute of Medicine, currently promotes six quality aims/dimensions for health care provision. Considered together, these six dimensions provide us with a timely framework to begin understanding the foundation of quality assurance in health care provision in both the public and the private sectors. The first Case allows you to explore what each of these six quality dimensions are, and understand how we assess them in terms of their quality indicators. Under this framework, the technical and interpersonal processes of providing health care come together—and we examine that interaction for both its benefits and its challenges.

Case Assignment

Using the information in the required readings as well as some additional research in peer-reviewed sources, complete your Case Assignment by answering the following:

1. Research and articulate the six current quality aims/dimensions of providing health care as promoted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Institute of Medicine.
2. Provide a summary of how each of the six aims/dimensions are commonly assessed and then managed in terms of quality. What are the identified best practices for ensuring quality in each of the six dimensions? Be specific in your explanations.
3. The Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) recognizes that health disparities impact the health status of different groups creating a higher rate of disease and increased rates of death and suffering.  AHRQ has developed specific health guidelines to combat these health challenges in an effort to improve health outcomes. Using the link below, choose two health programs and develop a short summary of the remediation efforts of for each and their effectiveness. 
   https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/cultural-competence/research-protocol
4. Explain both the technical and the interpersonal processes as essential elements of providing quality health care. What is the synergy between them? What are the benefits and the challenges we must be aware of?

Assignment Expectations

1. Conduct additional research to gather sufficient information to support your analysis.
2. Provide a response of 3-5 pages, not including title page and references.
3. As we have multiple required items to be addressed herein, please use subheadings to show where you’re responding to each required item and to ensure that none are omitted.
4. Support your paper with peer-reviewed articles and reliable sources. Use at least three references, and a minimum of two of these from peer-reviewed sources. For additional information on how to recognize peer-reviewed journals, see:
   Angelo State University Library. (n.d.). Library Guides: How to recognize peer-reviewed (refereed) journals. Retrieved from https://www.angelo.edu/services/library/handouts/peerrev.php 
   
   and for evaluating internet sources:
   Georgetown University Library. (n.d.). Evaluating internet resources. Retrieved from 
   https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content
5. You may use the following source to assist in your formatting your assignment:
   Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). General APA guidelines. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
6. Paraphrase all source information into your own words carefully, and use in-text citations.