HLT362V Topic 5 Discussion 2
Discuss ways your organization uses technology to gather patient and health care information, and how this information and
... [Show More] data are use to direct patient care and outcomes.
Answer
Data collection in the perioperative setting is driven by the electronic health record. Beginning with the scheduling of a patient for surgery through discharge of the patient either to a hospital unit or home, data is collected in regards to time, cost, and operating room utilization. Data is collected for first surgical case on-time starts, surgical case turnover time, surgeon block utilization, same day case cancellation, case duration, and supply cost per case. Inefficient scheduling and operating room processes can have a negative impact on quality, patient safety, patient, surgeon and staff satisfaction, and lead to supply waste and lost revenue. Other types of data collected in the operating room relate to government regulatory compliance such as statistics on medication labeling for patient safety, antibiotic administration within one hour of surgical incision, intraoperative patient normothermia, and accuracy and timeliness of the “time-out” procedure. This data is presented to hospital stakeholders such as administrators and department of surgery committees to assess efficiency and seek out opportunities for improvement. The operating room is traditionally viewed as a source of revenue for the hospital and the reliance on quality statistics and analytics is imperative to define trends and strive for best practice initiatives for patient care. Statistics are used daily to plan for levels of appropriate staffing, equipment and operating room utilization, and costs associated with volumes. A clinical dashboard allows for real-time decision making based on trends throughout the day. Staffing volumes can be adjusted based on this data.
Press-Ganey patient surveys are mailed to patients in a random manner. Data is collected from the returned surveys and reported as patient satisfaction. Patient care is affected as a result of these survey results. For example, data collected may show slow response times for pain medication administration. Patient care practices regarding pain medication are then studied to evaluate any necessary changes within an organization. [Show Less]