Discussion

• Specific Rules for Discussions

1. Each post must be at least 130 words long or it receives no credit. Only the first initial postings and the first response postings meeting the 130-word requirement will be graded.

2. The initial posting must be submitted by Thursday night at 11:59 pm EST. The response's postings are due Sunday night at 11:59 pm.

3. First Initial & response's postings must include at least two references - one internal (course readings, course modules, primers, webliography, etc.) and one external (other authoritative sources beyond our course material)

Note: No wiki or blog references

Topic:

Discussion: Research Methods and Techniques, Part 3

For the first part of this week discussion pick up one of the following areas and discuss about that, please remember to support your discussion with related citation.

1) Discuss about the roles and function of quantitative methods in health service management? And Discuss about qualitative and quantitative research (Similarities and difference)

2) Define and compare measures of variation (range, St. Dev.)

3) Discuss about the shape of distribution and then compare positive and negative Skewed?

You need to work on TA2, for this week we don't have any exercise, please try to start the TA2 as soon as you can-- thank you.

Background:

An Introduction to Qualitative Research

The Role and Function of Quantitative Methods in Health Services Management (http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763758714/58714_CH01_Lewis.pdf)

Summarizing Data: Measures of Variation (https://cims.nyu.edu/~kiryl/Elementary%20Statistics/Chapter_4.pdf)

Positive and negative Skewed: http://www.statisticshowto.com/skewed-distribution/

• General Rules for Discussions
• Comply with customary rules of online etiquette
• Do not repeat thoughts already posted by a classmate or your faculty member. Repetitive comments may be deleted and not count toward your participation grade.
• Do not get off topic
• Relate your posts to the course content
• No word count maximum or minimum, brevity is appreciated
• Do not upload a document in a discussion thread
• If referring to a link, please embed it in your post, don't expect your classmates or faculty to copy/paste the link to see it

Topic:

Question 2) How can electronic resources improve quality of care for patients?

Peer Response

Rules: Please thoroughly respond to post but not too wordy or lengthy. Include reference.

• Discussion

Abigail Giroux posted

Discuss about the roles and function of quantitative methods in health service management? And Discuss about qualitative and quantitative research

In the healthcare field, it is the managers duty to analyze and research information in efforts to better their practice. Qulatative and quantitative research are both fundamental in a health care managers work. Qualitative research includes the analysis of non-numerical data. For example through research the manager should be able to make educated choices on the resources they use in their office. Quantitative research is the analysis of numeric data. For example the manager should be able to know exactly how much each specific service rendered costs. Using quantitative methods, the manager should be able to forecast finances for the practice. When a manager can incorporate quantitative and qualitative research into their ever day work, they will be able to understand, predict and make the best decision for the office.

References:

The Role and Function of Quantitative Methods in Health Services Management (http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763758714/58714_CH01_Lewis.pdf)

Respond to Abigail here:

• Week 6 Daugherty

Contains unread posts Will posted

The measure of variance is basically a measure of how much a set of data is not alike ("Summarizing data: Measures of variation", n.d.). For instance, the range of a set of data describes the difference between the smallest and largest number in the data set ("Summarizing data: Measures of variation", n.d.). The range is simply an examination of each of a data set's extremes ("Summarizing data: Measures of variation", n.d.). However, range is not the only measure of variance in data.

An additional method of measuring variance is standard deviation (James, n.d.). James describes standard deviation as the most valuable measure of variance (James, n.d.). The standard deviation measures the spread of data around the mean (James, n.d.). Standard deviation can be used to analyze a population, in which case the sigma symbol is used to represent standard deviation, or a sample, in which case a lower-case "s" would be used (James, n.d.).

When discussing variation, it is also relevant to discuss the empirical rule, which applies to bell-shaped data sets (James, n.d.). The empirical rule declares that, in a normal distribution, 68% of values fall within one standard deviation, 95% within two, and 99.7% fall within three standard deviations of the mean (James, n.d.).

References

James. (n.d.). Statistics lecture notes. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from https://people.richland.edu/james/lecture/m170/ch03-var.html
Summarizing data: Measures of vartiation. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2016, from https://cims.nyu.edu/~kiryl/Elementary Statistics/Chapter_4.pdf

Respond to Will here:

Question 2

Rachel posted

Class,

According to Dorr et al. (2007), improving care for patients requires a team-based approach. Many models specify the use of health information technology (HIT) as a key component in managing populations and complex communications with patients. HIT can provide knowledge about guidelines and safety, information about patient conditions, treatments and other pertinent characteristics, and reminders to providers at the point-of-care of important quality steps. HIT can be a key part of the clinical team that keeps patients healthy. Similarly, Chaudhry et al. analyzed information systems components in 257 studies and found improved adherence to protocols, reduced errors, and improved surveillance (Dorr et al. 2007).

Dorr, D., Bonner, L. M., Cohen, A. N., Shoai, R. S., Perrin, R., Chaney, E., & Young, A. S. (2007). Informatics systems to promote improved care for chronic illness: a literature review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 14(2), 156-163.

Respond to Rachel here

Yemissrach

YemissrachTadesse posted

Question 1) What does excellence in health care look like? How do we as patients measure excellence? How do health care professionals measure excellence?

Excellence in organizations may be seen through the stability or flexibility of financial positions, ability to embrace new opportunities and invest in research, improvement, and advanced technology, customers or patients are always satisfied with the services they receive as shown in surveys, collaboration with different organizations and industries produces helpful advances, the organization is recognized by schools and governments, and consistency in receiving rewards and recognitions by different departments. If there is an excellence in a health care organization, it will be evident in the organization's growth, service quality, development, reputation, and patients' satisfaction.

Patients, same with customers who purchase products and services, always want to receive the best in exchange of the money they have worked hard for. Hence, as patients, excellence is when the health care organization has met or exceeded above patients' expectations. While for professionals, they measure excellence in health care if improvements in the facilities and service are continuously improving, issues in the organization have been identified and addressed through strategic plans, and the organization's overall productivity, quality, and growth are increasing (Chadwick, 2013).

Respond to Yemissrach here