Organizational Research

Evidence-based decision making is becoming increasingly important for today’s health care organizations. Health care professionals must find sound and innovative ways to use research to inform organizational policies and procedures related to a variety of topics.

To prepare for this Discussion, review the websites in this week’s Learning Resources, which provide valuable information on key issues in health care today.  ( LISTED BELOW).

Websites

• AcademyHealth
  http://www.academyhealth.org/This site, which is maintained by the nonprofit AcademyHealth organization, promotes the use of health services research to improve health care.
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
  http://www.ahrq.gov/This site, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serves as a repository of health care research and quality information for patients, providers, researchers, policy makers, and payers.
• American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA)
  http://achca.org/joomla/This site provides information on educational programming and meetings, professional certification and licensure, and career development opportunities for ACHCA members.
• American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)
  http://www.ache.org/This site is an ACHE member resource for information on credentialing, education, local chapters, career services, publications, and research.
• American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
  http://www.ahima.org/This site is an AHIMA member resource for information on certification and credentialing, education, meetings and events, publications, resources, advocacy and public policy, and career opportunities.
• Health Services Research
  http://www.hsr.org/This site, which represents the official journal of the AcademyHealth organization, promotes the advancement of health practice and policy through state-of-the-art research and thinking.
• Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA)
  http://www.hfma.org/This site provides information on education and events, publications, organizational initiatives, career opportunities, and current news for HFMA members.
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
  http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.aspThis site is a resource for HIMSS members that provides information on news and research, health information technology topics of interest, professional development, and conferences and events.
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  http://www.nih.gov/index.htmlThis site, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serves as the National Institutes of Health’s overarching online repository for information on health-related topics, grants, intra- and extraorganizational news, research, links to institute-specific content, and career and training opportunities.
• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  http://www.rwjf.org/This site, which is maintained by the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, promotes improved health and health care for all Americans.

Then, reflect on the following questions:

• What are the key issues in health care right now? How is research used—or how could it be used—in each of these areas by health care organizations?
• Do different types of health care organizations encounter different research questions and/or challenges that involve research? If so, how? What are the implications of this for health care professionals?

In addition to the above, be sure to consider how your knowledge and awareness of health services research has grown throughout this course.

RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING

• Identify an important issue that you believe needs to be researched, given current events in the health care field. Explain why research related to this issue is important from an organizational perspective.
• Describe how you would use research related to this issue to inform your thinking and decision making as a health care professional. Note any insights that you have gained as you have progressed through this course and comment on how these insights will be of benefit to you in the future.

APA FORMAT… MINIMUM TWO RESOURCES.