PUQ213 Quality Management in Health
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | PUQ213 |
|---|---|
| Equivalent(s): | PUN213 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,216 |
Unit Outline: Session 2 2025, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | PUQ213 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | PUN213 |
Overview
Quality and risk management are increasingly important areas of focus and activity in the health industry as health service operation and performance is increasingly regulated and monitored by governments and funders. At all levels of the health system, individuals, teams, divisions, organisations, boards and policy makers are expected to contribute to the maintenance of health care quality and safety standards and to participate in the quality improvement of services provided.
This unit introduces the concepts, processes and implementation of quality improvement in health services.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Articulate the underlying drivers for, enablers of and barriers to contemporary and inclusive approaches to quality management in health and aged care.
- Identify the quality management concepts, tools and techniques relevant to the unit, service or organisational setting’s readiness and local regulation.
- Critically analyse information to identify the reasons for organisational performance against quality and safety standards.
- Design action plans to improve safety outcomes in health and aged care.
- Justify health quality improvement approaches drawing on research and evidence.
Content
This unit will cover the following:
- Quality Management Concepts: history and overview, continuous quality improvement, total quality management and the patient safety movement
- Person-centred Care including inclusive approaches for diverse groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and services
- Quality Management Programs and Methods: risk management, utilisation management, benchmarking, best practice, quality improvement tools, process improvement cycles; planning a quality agenda
- Accreditation: Quality oversight organisations and emerging changes to accreditation policy associated with Australian health reform.
- Measuring Health Care Performance: clinical indicators, outcome performance measures, adverse events; clinical audit; strategy of program implementation; utilising data for action
- Health Care Governance and Clinician Profiling: clinical governance, credentialing; clinical quality framework
- Data Quality, Documentation and Information Safety: monitoring data quality in administrative and clinical information in an electronic environment; health record documentation requirements and safety of information
- Risk Management: integrated risk management programs, root cause analysis
- Leadership, Teamwork and Change Management: principles and methods for implementing process change; the role of leadership, organisational culture, and interdisciplinary approaches in promoting safe, high quality care
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging with the interactive learning resources, peer learning, moderated and facilitated online discussions, learning events and self-directed learning materials. Learning activities assist you to apply quality assurance principles to assess and evaluate health service providers through authentic online engagement with interdisciplinary, industry informed case scenarios.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will be provided with:
- Informal formative feedback through self-check exercises, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback in online discussions or via comments in online communities.
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks via Turnitin or the Canvas Assignment tool, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
- Feedback on your assessment task 1 prior to the submission of your assessment task 2.
- Industry informed expert feedback through clinical assessment examples and interventions at timely intervals to guide learning and assessment.
You are encouraged to seek and share feedback in your workplaces where appropriate.
Assessment
Overview
There are three (3) assessments to be completed throughout the semester.
1. Workbook - This brings together the key concepts presented in the unit materials and learning activities to inform critical analysis of academic articles, policy documents and reports.
2. Patient Outcomes Data Analysis - This will connect real world patient outcomes data with approaches to analysis and evaluation of quality and safety performance.
3. Quality Improvement Plan - This will develop your skills to identify quality improvement strategies and design a plan to improve the process of care delivery.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Workbook
During weeks 2 to 6 you will be provided with real-world health and aged care quality and safety cases. You will be encouraged to post your own contribution and respond to other student's contributions on the discussion forum in response to a series of prompting questions on the clinical governance, risk management and patient safety issues identified in these cases. This will prepare you to complete the workbook activities.
Part A: Activities 1 - 4 due in Week 4
Part B: Activities 5 and 6 due in Week 6
Your responses should draw from the provided readings in the quality and safety literature, as well as reflecting on your own workplace/organisation experience.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Patient Outcomes Data Analysis
You will take on the role of a quality manager in a health care setting. You are responsible for reviewing patient outcomes data and producing an analysis for the leadership group. In the analysis you will need to describe the data and identify the possible reasons for poorer than expected patient outcomes.
Assessment: Quality Improvement Plan
Working in your role monitoring healthcare quality, you will develop a quality improvement plan for your healthcare setting to address a quality performance issue. You will research best practice evidence for achieving high quality and safe practice. This research and a quality improvement framework will inform your plan. The plan will need to consider approaches to interdisciplinary collaboration.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Throughout this unit, the eBook we use each week is:
Vincent, C. (2010). Patient safety. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444323856
The electronic version of this text has been made available at no expense to you, and links to this eBook will be provided in each week's learning materials.
Links to additional readings are provided in each week's learning module. These can be accessed directly through the internet or through the QUT Library.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with general participation in this unit. Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
You are expected to communicate in ways that are professional and respectful of others in all interactions. Please refer to QUT guidelines on communication.
Unit Outline: Session 4 2025, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | PUQ213 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | PUN213 |
Overview
Quality and risk management are increasingly important areas of focus and activity in the health industry as health service operation and performance is increasingly regulated and monitored by governments and funders. At all levels of the health system, individuals, teams, divisions, organisations, boards and policy makers are expected to contribute to the maintenance of health care quality and safety standards and to participate in the quality improvement of services provided.
This unit introduces the concepts, processes and implementation of quality improvement in health services.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Articulate the underlying drivers for, enablers of and barriers to contemporary and inclusive approaches to quality management in health and aged care.
- Identify the quality management concepts, tools and techniques relevant to the unit, service or organisational setting’s readiness and local regulation.
- Critically analyse information to identify the reasons for organisational performance against quality and safety standards.
- Design action plans to improve safety outcomes in health and aged care.
- Justify health quality improvement approaches drawing on research and evidence.
Content
This unit will cover the following:
- Quality Management Concepts: history and overview, continuous quality improvement, total quality management and the patient safety movement
- Person-centred Care including inclusive approaches for diverse groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and services
- Quality Management Programs and Methods: risk management, utilisation management, benchmarking, best practice, quality improvement tools, process improvement cycles; planning a quality agenda
- Accreditation: Quality oversight organisations and emerging changes to accreditation policy associated with Australian health reform.
- Measuring Health Care Performance: clinical indicators, outcome performance measures, adverse events; clinical audit; strategy of program implementation; utilising data for action
- Health Care Governance and Clinician Profiling: clinical governance, credentialing; clinical quality framework
- Data Quality, Documentation and Information Safety: monitoring data quality in administrative and clinical information in an electronic environment; health record documentation requirements and safety of information
- Risk Management: integrated risk management programs, root cause analysis
- Leadership, Teamwork and Change Management: principles and methods for implementing process change; the role of leadership, organisational culture, and interdisciplinary approaches in promoting safe, high quality care
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging with the interactive learning resources, peer learning, moderated and facilitated online discussions, learning events and self-directed learning materials. Learning activities assist you to apply quality assurance principles to assess and evaluate health service providers through authentic online engagement with interdisciplinary, industry informed case scenarios.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will be provided with:
- Informal formative feedback through self-check exercises, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback in online discussions or via comments in online communities.
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks via Turnitin or the Canvas Assignment tool, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
- Feedback on your assessment task 1 prior to the submission of your assessment task 2.
- Industry informed expert feedback through clinical assessment examples and interventions at timely intervals to guide learning and assessment.
You are encouraged to seek and share feedback in your workplaces where appropriate.
Assessment
Overview
There are three (3) assessments to be completed throughout the semester.
1. Workbook - This brings together the key concepts presented in the unit materials and learning activities to inform critical analysis of academic articles, policy documents and reports.
2. Patient Outcomes Data Analysis - This will connect real world patient outcomes data with approaches to analysis and evaluation of quality and safety performance.
3. Quality Improvement Plan - This will develop your skills to identify quality improvement strategies and design a plan to improve the process of care delivery.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Workbook
During weeks 2 to 6 you will be provided with real-world health and aged care quality and safety cases. You will be encouraged to post your own contribution and respond to other student's contributions on the discussion forum in response to a series of prompting questions on the clinical governance, risk management and patient safety issues identified in these cases. This will prepare you to complete the workbook activities.
Part A: Activities 1 - 4 due in Week 4
Part B: Activities 5 and 6 due in Week 6
Your responses should draw from the provided readings in the quality and safety literature, as well as reflecting on your own workplace/organisation experience.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Patient Outcomes Data Analysis
You will take on the role of a quality manager in a health care setting. You are responsible for reviewing patient outcomes data and producing an analysis for the leadership group. In the analysis you will need to describe the data and identify the possible reasons for poorer than expected patient outcomes.
Assessment: Quality Improvement Plan
Working in your role monitoring healthcare quality, you will develop a quality improvement plan for your healthcare setting to address a quality performance issue. You will research best practice evidence for achieving high quality and safe practice. This research and a quality improvement framework will inform your plan. The plan will need to consider approaches to interdisciplinary collaboration.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Throughout this unit, the eBook we use each week is:
Vincent, C. (2010). Patient safety. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444323856
The electronic version of this text has been made available at no expense to you, and links to this eBook will be provided in each week's learning materials.
Links to additional readings are provided in each week's learning module. These can be accessed directly through the internet or through the QUT Library.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with general participation in this unit. Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
You are expected to communicate in ways that are professional and respectful of others in all interactions. Please refer to QUT guidelines on communication.