Overview:

The course project requires you to create a quality management plan. To do this, you will:

• Identify various aspects of a quality management plan in a healthcare organization.
• Apply various processes and tools to enhance quality in a healthcare setting. Seek additional resources from http://www.leanproduction.com/index.html.
• Identify workflow processes in a healthcare setting.
• Identify quality parameters in a healthcare setting.
• Examine the effectiveness of a quality management plan in a given healthcare setting.

The project is modeled on the Shewhart Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act). You will modify the Shewhart Cycle to make it applicable to your selected healthcare service or program.

Seek additional resources that will help you understand the process being studied as well as planning and quality improvement in general. You can visit the following link for more details on a quality process improvement plan: www.goleansixsigma.com

Click Resources and then select Lean Six Sigma Tools. Review the steps in sequence; they provide direction to a quality process improvement plan. While you do not need to use the steps in sequence, they provide direction, as given below:

• Define: This step describes the importance of the problem within the organization.
• Measure: This step relates to the impact of the current condition and target goals for improvement.
• Analyze: This step relates to understanding work flow mapping and the value stream as well as understanding root cause analysis (RCA).
• Improve: This step identifies improvements to consider in the implementation of change.
• Control: This step is about sustainability of change.

Tasks:

• Complete a part of the Plan step of the cycle.
  • Describe the environment, the organization, and the department or program within the organization that is the basis for your project. Describe the selected healthcare setting, specifically its service, staff, equipment, and patients. Identify and describe the scope and nature of the problem.
  • Assess the environment using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. Interview some stakeholders, such as managers, staff, or customers. Use the interview information to conduct the SWOT analysis. You may also summarize or quote any important or interesting information gathered during the interview.
  • Select one of the weaknesses determined by the SWOT analysis to create a plan for improvement.