NURS 6050 Week 10 Assignment Assessing a Healthcare Program or Policy Evaluation
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Walden University
NURS 6050
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- NURS6050 Week 10 Assignment Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation Analysis Template
Use this document to complete the Module 5 Assessment: Assessing a Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation.
Instructions:
Nurses can play a very important role in assessing program/policy evaluation for the same reasons that they can be
so important to program/policy design.
insight and impact.
Select an existing healthcare program or policy evaluation, or choose one of interest to you.
| Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation | Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) |
| Description | HRRP was initiated as a way of motivating the hospitals to enhance their discharge protocol and care coordination, which ultimately decreases the readmission of a patient within 30 days after discharge. The key results of the success of such a policy are the quantifiable reduction of readmission rates of individual diseases like heart attacks, heart failures, pneumonia, COPD, hip/knee surgeries, and heart surgery bypasses. |
| How was the success of the program or policy measured? | The changes in the number of readmissions in the hospitals included in the intervention served as the measurement of the success of the HRPR. The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) compared the performance of hospitals and fined those that demonstrate an unanticipated rate of readmission (Banyjee et al., 2021). This connection between the performance of hospitals and the Medicare payment was a force to reckon with, as it led to the development of differences in the behavior of hospitals. |
| How much of an impact was realized with the program or policy selected? | The HRRP addresses one of the underlying issues of the healthcare system in the United States. It has compelled the provision of care in hospitals to be more care-oriented and discharge planning-oriented, and this has assisted in minimizing hospital readmissions. By targeting patients with therapies, millions are treated for those conditions, and processes and outcomes of entire hospitals are greatly enhanced. |
| At what point in program implementation was the program or policy evaluation conducted? | The HRRP assessments are done once a year, which gives us a picture each year of the nature of issues and improvements (Wadhera et al., 2021). This steady assessment has a crucial role within the context of change and improvement of policy implementation, so that the program can change and adjust to the evolving healthcare environments, so that it achieves its goals. |
| The data that was utilized during the assessment of HRRP comprises the entire Medicare claims data that is combined with a few vital factors. This data consisted of patient identifiers like name, age, gender, Dates of hospitalization and readmission afterward, and with the 30 days after discharge being the priority (Batt et al., 2018). Furthermore, the dataset provided contained demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status that would be useful in studying and comparing the readmission rates anticipated and the actual readmission rates of various groups within the population. The data was a collection of arms-level treatment and procedural data in order to record what specific conditions (chronic heart failure or hip replacements) caused readmissions. | |
| What specific information on unintended consequences was identified? | That they could record more global deaths of some conditions was also a significant concern, as it might lead to the possibility of hospitals refusing to take on patients so as to avoid fines. Moreover, even the hospitals that offer services to this group of patients reported that such financial sanctions primarily have a distinct impact on them, as their patient population already has an increased risk of readmission. |
| Be specific and provide examples. | The key stakeholders involved in this evaluation include the hospital management, health care staff, CMS, and the patients and their families. The beneficiaries of the successful implementation of the policy would be the patients, who could enjoy a higher quality of care and reduce the healthcare cost as there would be no re-admissions. |
| Why or why not? | Although the HRPF was successful in decreasing the necessity of readmissions and, therefore, the main objective was fulfilled, the question of the rise in mortality rates and the effects of such programs on isolated hospitals can still be raised to indicate the complicated interplay between avoiding readmissions and patient safety, as well as fair treatment of all the communities. |
| Would you recommend implementing this program or policy in your place of work? Why or why not? | It might be a good strategy to become accustomed to so that when we modify the needs specific to our patients and the demographic profile of our patients, we can adapt appropriately. As regards implementation, we should develop a strict monitoring system that is not focused only on readmission but also on patient outcomes after discharge. The mechanism ought to be in such a manner that the care being given is actually effective and safe. |
| Direct Patient EngagementI would like to engage myself directly with the patients after the discharge in gathering first-hand experience of the recovery process and the challenges they have undergone, which would definitely play a vital role in assessing the effect of the readmission reduction strategies on the effectiveness of the same (Luther et al., 2019).Engagement in Quality Improvement Programs.Inclusion of the staff in the quality improvement teams will also be more effective in ensuring that we implement the best strategies that consider the best interests of the patients. This will make sure that the strategies being put in place consider the frontline view of the current issue so that policy development can be narrowed down as necessary. | |
| General Notes/Comments | When considering and analyzing the HRRP, it can be concluded that detailed assessment data should be able to integrate both objective and subjective knowledge in order to gain a clear idea of how such policies affect the process of patient care delivery and health outcomes. |
References
Batt, R., Bavafa, H., & Soltani, M. (2018). Quality improvement spillovers: Evidence from the hospital readmissions reduction program. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3132770
Luther, B., Wilson, R. D., Kranz, C., & Krahulec, M. (2019). Discharge processes: What evidence tells us is most effective. Orthopaedic Nursing, 38(5), 328–333. https://doi.org/10.1097/nor.0000000000000601
Qiu, L., Kumar, S., Sen, A., & Sinha, A. (2022). Impact of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) on hospital readmission and mortality: An economic analysis. Production and Operations Management, 31(5). https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13724
Wadhera, R. K., Joynt Maddox, K. E., Desai, N. R., Landon, B. E., MD, M. V., Gilstrap, L. G., Shen, C., & Yeh, R. W. (2021). Evaluation of hospital performance using the excess days in acute care measure in the hospital readmissions reduction program. Annals of Internal Medicine, 174(1), 86–92. https://doi.org/10.7326/m20-3486
Related assignment for class NURS 6050: NURS 6050 Week 8 Assignment