Discussion: Quality and Cost Measurements
As nurse practitioners continue to take on more responsibilities in health care, it is important for them to show how their care affects patient outcomes with data and proof. There are many things that advanced practice nurses have to do to give good care and meet an organization's productivity goals. This week, it's important to find out how quality care and performance measures are connected. Some questions to think about as we talk about this subject are:
Why is it important to measure quality?
What's the difference between measuring quality and looking at how well something works?
How do we measure NP productivity in terms of performance?
When it comes to clinical organizations, why do they use incentive plans?
To prepare:
Read the article by Catherine A. Rhodes, Mavis Bechtle, and Molly McNett called "An Incentive Plan for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses: Impact on Provider and Organizational Outcomes" (2015)
Explore quality measures and pick at least one clinical performance measure, such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
By Day 3
Use the clinical performance measure you picked as an example to explain why quality measures are important. Then, in the article by Rhodes, Bechtle, and McNett (2015), find the performance measures that were used to measure NP productivity. Lastly, give your opinion on incentive payment for care, including at least one business model and external motivators.
