Lesson+3+Evaluate+the+Solutions

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12572

The data shows that the areas where there are time lags are in the various times it takes for patients to be transported to a zone, seen by a doctor, and then have their various x-rays and antibiotics done. these problems seem to normal for any hospital. However, there are factors that are special to this case. The problem areas found may not be a complete view of the process as a whole. Since this was aimed at only records of being over 6 hours, the data of the patients under 6 hours, and even under a 4hr benchmark were not looked at. Because there are no averages of what would be considered a good time for the various times looked at, the data could be misrepresented. However, there are cases where no matter what the cause, the time is so great that the breakdown of the process is only what can follow.

Our recommendation is for there to be benchmarks for each checkpoint of the pneumonia process. This would allow a more detailed look into what breaks down, or what is causing stress on the process as a whole. This would allow a monitoring type of system for the process. Also, tighter vital signs criteria for the process. This could decrease the chance of misdiagnosis from the start where the nurse checks the pneumonia screening.

However, without looking at more data, and looking at the records from patients who successfully receive their antibiotics in under 6 hours, these recommendations are not meant for actual use as being completely accurate.

Another thing that makes this case special is the fact that the staff had been re-educated a few weeks before this project had started so the 2 weeks before starting, the process was reaching 100% in patients being treated in under 6 hours. This implies that the process itself is not at flaw, but rather just a normal human error in the process. This is an interesting variable in that one solution could be to have "training days" for the staff to emphasize the importance and consequences of not meeting their goal.

The article above talks about how the current approaches to the U.S. health care IT are insufficient. The most talked about problems in health care today are the ones with insurance and money. Those are not the main problems - the real problems lie in the poor infrastructure of information technology. Better decision-support and problem-solving systems can drastically change health care in terms of quality of care for the patient while reducing costs for the hospital.

Works Cited: "CURRENT APPROACHES TO U.S. HEALTH CARE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARE INSUFFICIENT." //News from the national academies// (2008): Web. 22 Nov 2009. .