Healthcare Quality & Safety (HQS)

This course invites learners to use their curiosity to explore the depth and breadth of quality and safety in a variety of healthcare settings. HQS 500 introduces learners to basic terminology and concepts in healthcare quality and safety. Students will learn about the current state of healthcare quality and safety, including the characteristics of high-quality organizations and outcomes. Students will learn how to identify quality and safety issues in healthcare environments across the continuum of care, through specific examples, and tangible exercise. Students will use practical, real-life tools to identify common quality problems and provide a cogent synopsis of the issues' importance using relevant literature. Readings, discussions, and assignments are organized to enhance the student’s fundamental understanding of healthcare quality and safety basic principles.

This course examines the attributes of High Reliability Organizing (HRO) within the context of healthcare. Learners will explore HRO principles, methods for evaluating observable behaviors against HRO characteristics, and approaches to leading an organization in its journey towards high reliability. By the end of the course, learners will evaluate HRO principles, the culture of safety, and create an A3 Report for their own organization or department to further the journey to high reliability. Learners will focus on how individuals and teams can learn from their experiences, adopt continuous improvement practices, and work together to create safer, more reliable cultures in healthcare environments that are patient and family-centered. Learners will think critically to evaluate their own thinking, decision-making, leadership, and problem-solving abilities within high-reliability healthcare organizations.

This course offers a foundational overview of critical tools and methods used in healthcare quality and safety programs throughout the continuum of care. Participants will delve into the techniques used to drive healthcare quality and safety through the lens of leadership, program evaluation, regulatory governance, and ethical decision-making in support of patient care.

This course focuses on healthcare’s dynamic, ever-changing landscape through the lens of healthcare quality and safety programming. Shifts within the workforce, community demographic changes, technological advancements, and regulatory updates are just some examples of the myriad internal and external factors that can impact healthcare quality and safety. Learners will leverage real-world contemporaneous examples to assess impact and develop recommendations for addressing change.

This penultimate course in the Healthcare Quality and Safety (HQS) program focuses on the integration of core concepts in preparation for students' transition into their final Capstone course. Core concepts include leadership, critical thinking, and communication skills necessary to design and implement sustainable quality improvement plans. Students engage with evidence-based improvement science, analyzing real-world case studies to develop comprehensive improvement strategies. Students will critically evaluate improvement plans, participate in peer reviews, and contribute to team-based activities. By the end of the course, students will have created detailed improvement plans, reflecting on their leadership skills and the application of HQS competencies. They will also consider how the course content enhances their Capstone development, equipping them to lead future organizational quality and safety improvements.

This course examines the foundational principles of healthcare quality and safety. Students will explore leadership in complex adaptive systems, change management, and improvement science. Core principles such as team-based approaches to change and data-driven decision-making are addressed alongside common frameworks such as High-Reliability Organizing. Finally, students will examine the importance of organizational culture and its outsize role in continuous improvement mindsets and safety cultures.

This course examines each of the contributing factors necessary to develop and evaluate business cases for healthcare quality and safety improvement initiatives. Students will explore: 1) methods of identifying and calculating the cost of poor quality, 2) techniques for estimating the value of a proposed change, 3) barriers to achieving stakeholder buy-in, and 4) best practices for formally writing and presenting a business case.

The course prepares students to take the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) certifying exam. Led by a CPHQ instructor, the course will review topics associated with the National Association of Healthcare Quality's competencies. CPHQ exam is included.

This course emphasizes the application of program competencies in a comprehensive Capstone thesis. Students identify an HQS-related problem or research question, exemplifying leadership and expertie, by creating plans and protocols that address real-world issues in healthcare. Students focus on defining their research problem, constructing a comprehensive literature review, and outlining the scope of their Capstone. Next, students design project methodology, including interventions, data management plans, and anticipated methods for analysis. Students consider contextual factors such as regulatory frameworks, stakeholder roles, and ethical decision-making, ensuring that their Capstone is feasible and aligned with healthcare standards.