Description:

Covers principles of total quality management including quality assurance and quality control. Includes management of hospital and departmental accreditation including interpretation of accreditation standards, design of processes to address standards, and preparation for a site visit. Case studies are used to bring a contextual focus on radiation and diagnostic imaging department.

Outcomes:

After completing this class, students should be able to:

• Discuss the relationship between healthcare institutional quality management and organizational performance standards in the context of diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy departments. • Debate the trends in quality management as they relate to the provision and reimbursement of healthcare services. • Examine the process of standards and outcome development. Apply strategies and tools to support data collection and analysis, and compare and contrast key elements of instrumental quality control and institutional quality assurance. • Discuss principles and applications of instrument quality control, including acceptance testing, benchmarking, longitudinal evaluation, action levels, etc. with specific tools and strategies to control errors or error processes. • Present strategies to establish and maintain a quality environment, including patient satisfaction, outcomes assessment, and procedural performance evaluation. • Evaluate and illustrate the use of a systems approach to quality management using a diagnostic imaging or radiation therapy department in a hospital as an example. Analyze the role of the various healthcare providers, vendors and customers in quality management. • Apply strategies and tools to measure and monitor outcomes, including statistical management tools, in diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy organizations. • Synthesize the regulations that apply to hospital and departmental accreditation, diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy departments, and stand-alone imaging centers, and the impact of compliance and non-compliance. • Assess the role and importance of JCAHO and external accrediting bodies in the evaluation of departmental/institutional excellence. • Outline key steps in preparing for hospital and departmental accreditation including self-study and site visit. Identify the steps needed to prepare for a site visit in healthcare and diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy organizations. • Analyze theories and mechanisms used for workplace performance improvement such as TQM, Six Sigma, PDCA and Lean, and evaluate their applicability to hospitals in general and to diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy departments in particular. • Develop a quality management program and a plan for its implementation in an area of the student’s specialty.