MPH5267 - Principles of health care quality improvement - 2019

6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Organisational Unit

Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine

Chief examiner(s)

Adjunct Associate Professor Margaret Way

Coordinator(s)

Adjunct Associate Professor Margaret Way

Unit guides

Offered

Alfred Hospital

  • Second semester 2019 (Off-campus)
  • Second semester 2019 (On-campus)

Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in a Postgraduate degree

Synopsis

In this Unit students will learn how historical, political & social factors impact on quality measurement in health care; the relationship of industrial and health care quality monitoring; epidemiological and statistical quality measurement principles; the strengths and limitations of current monitoring techniques; different sources of health care quality data; principles of clinical indicator programs; adverse event monitoring, satisfaction surveys and benchmarking; and the relationship between evidence based medicine, clinical practice guidelines and quality improvement.

Students will appreciate the complexities in designing, implementing and evaluating quality improvement programs in the clinical setting.

The content aligns well with other management units in the program such as MPH5266 (Clinical Leadership and Management) and MPH5020 (Introduction to Biostatistics and Epidemiology). It is a core unit of the Graduate Diploma and Master of Health Services Management.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Describe the factors that have led to a greater emphasis on quality measurement and improvement in health care.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the tools that are used in quality measurement and improvement, including:
    • Clinical indicator programs
    • Adverse event monitoring
    • Satisfaction surveys
    • Benchmarking
    • Evidence based medicine
    • Clinical guidelines
    • Quality improvement programs
    • Accreditation programs
    • Risk management
  3. Apply a knowledge of international quality improvement programs.
  4. Contribute to the debate on quality improvement issues - such as public disclosure of quality measures.
  5. Design and implement quality improvement programs in the clinical setting.

Assessment

  • Critical reflections (10 x 240 words) (40% total)
  • Letter to the editor (600 words) (10%)
  • Written report (3,000 words) (50%) (Hurdle).

Workload requirements

15 contact hours over 2 block day

On average 10 hours per week to participate in online tasks and complete assignments

See also Unit timetable information

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at: