Write a quality improvement proposal, 5–7 pages in length, that provides your recommendations for expanding a hospital’s HIT to include quality metrics that will help the organization qualify as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO).

Understanding health information technology (HIT) is essential to improving individual, community, and population access to health care and health information. HIT enables quick and easy access to information for both patients and providers. Accessible information has been shown to improve the patient care experience and reduce redundancies, thereby reducing health care costs.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:This assessment provides an opportunity for you to make recommendations for expanding a hospital’s HIT in ways that will help the hospital qualify as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO).

• Competency 2: Analyze the role of informatics in nursing care coordination.
  • Recommend ways to expand an organization’s HIT to include quality metrics.
  • Describe the main focus of information gathering in health care and how it contributes to guiding the development of organizational practice.
  • Describe three ways in which data reporting specific to client behaviors can shape care coordination, care management, and clinical efficiency.
• Competency 3: Analyze ways in which information is collected from client records and is used to influence health outcomes.
  • Identify potential problems that can arise with data gathering systems and outputs.
• Competency 5: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
  • Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
  • Support main points, claims, and conclusions with relevant and credible scholarly or professional evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.

  Assessment Instructions

  Preparation

  In this assessment, you will again assume the role of case manager at Sacred Heart Hospital. This time, you are asked to develop a strategy for tracking quality metrics to help facilitate the hospital’s qualification for ACO status.Before drafting your proposal, complete the Vila Health: Quality Metrics Tracking simulation exercise linked in the Required Resources.Note: Remember that you can submit all, or a portion of, your draft proposal to Smarthinking for feedback, before you submit the final version for this assessment. However, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24–48 hours for receiving feedback, if you plan on using this free service.

  Requirements

  Develop a proposal to expand Sacred Heart Hospital’s HIT to better include quality metrics—with the ultimate goal of qualifying for ACO status.

  Proposal Format and Length

  Format your proposal using APA style.

  • Use the APA Style Paper Template, linked in the Required Resources. An APA Style Paper Tutorial is also provided (linked in the Suggested Resources) to help you in writing and formatting your proposal. Be sure to include:
    • A title page and a references page. An abstract is not required.
    • A running head on all pages.
    • Appropriate section headings.
  • Apply APA formatting to all in-text citations and references.
  • Your proposal should be 5–7 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.

  Supporting Evidence

  Cite at least 6 sources of credible scholarly or professional evidence to support your proposal.

  Writing the Proposal

  Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your proposal addresses each point, at a minimum. You may also want to read the Quality Improvement Proposal Scoring Guide to better understand how each criterion will be assessed.

  • Recommend ways to expand the hospital’s HIT to include quality metrics.
    • How will you collect information and solve the problem of coordinating care for patients who are not getting diagnostic tests, such as mammograms or colonoscopies?
    • What can you do to track health information from the community or the population to make necessary improvements?
    • How can you show the role of informatics in nursing care coordination?
    • What evidence supports your recommendations?
  • Describe the main focus of information gathering in health care and how it contributes to guiding the development of organizational practice.
    • Provide examples.
  • Identify potential problems that can arise with data gathering systems and output.
    • What suggestions can you make for avoiding those problems?
  • Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
    • Express your main points and conclusions coherently.
    • Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your needs assessment.
  • Support main points, claims, and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.
    • Is your supporting evidence clear and explicit?
    • How or why does particular evidence support a claim?
    • Will your audience see the connection?

  Additional Requirements

  Be sure that you have used the APA Style Paper Template to format your proposal and that your document includes:

  • A title page and references page.
  • A running head on all pages.
  • Appropriate section headings.

  In addition, be sure that:

  • Your proposal is approximately 5–7 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.
  • You have cited at least 6 sources of relevant and credible scholarly or professional evidence to support your assessment.

  Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save your proposal to your ePortfolio.