Case Study Background You have been brought in to manage a portfolio of several specialty clinics in a large multi-physician group practice in an academic medical center. The clinics reside in a multi-clinic facility that houses primary care and specialty practice as well as a satellite laboratory and radiology and pharmacy services. The practice provides the following centralized services for each of its clinics: registration, payer interface, and billing. The CEO of the practice has asked you to initially devote your attention to Clinic X to improve its efficiency and patient satisfaction. Access Process A primary care physician, patient or family member calls the receptionist at Clinic X for appointment. If the receptionist is in the middle of helping a patient in person, the caller is asked to hold. The receptionist then asks the caller, “How may I help you?” If the caller is requesting an appointment within the next month, the appointment date and time is made and given verbally to the caller. If the caller asks additional questions, the receptionist provides answers. The caller is then given the toll free pre-registration phone number and asked to preregister before the date of the scheduled appointment. If the requested appointment is beyond a 30 day period, the caller’s name and address are put in a “future file” because physician availability is given only one month in advance. Every month, the receptionist reviews the future file and schedules an appointment for each person on the list, and a confirmation is automatically mailed to the caller. When a patient preregisters, the financial office is automatically notified and performs the necessary insurance checks and authorizations for the appropriate insurance plan. If the patient does not preregister, when the patient arrives in the clinic on the day of the appointment and checks in with the specialty clinic receptionist, she is asked to first go to the central registration area to register. Any obvious problems with authorization are corrected before patient returns to the specialty clinic waiting room. Receptionist’s Point of View The receptionist has determined the best way to not inconvenience the caller is to keep her on the phone as short an amount of time as possible. The receptionist also expresses frustration with the fact that there are too many things to do at once. Physician’s Point of View The physician thinks too much of his time is spent on paperwork and chasing down authorizations. The physician senses that appointments are always running behind and that patients are frustrated, no matter how nice he is to them. Patient’s Point of View Patients are frustrated when asked to wait in a long line to register, which makes them late for their appointments, and when future appointments are scheduled without their input. As a result of this later factor, and work of childcare conflicts, patient often do not show up for these scheduled appointments. Office Nurse’s Point of View The office nurse feels that he is playing catch up all day long and explaining delays. The office nurse also wishes there was more time for teaching. Billing Office’s Point of View The billing office thinks some care is given that is not reimbursed because of inaccurate or incomplete insurance or demographic information or that care id denied authorization after the fact. Data On the Picker Institute website (pickerinstitute.org), you will find the following patient expectations and dimensions of care for adults and children in their outpatient experiences with a hospital or clinic outpatient appointment: Respect for patient s’ values, preferences, and expressed needsCoordination and integration of careInformation and educationPhysical comfortEmotional support and alleviation of fear and anxietyInvolvement of family and friendsTransition and continuityAccess to care Your last quarter’s worth of performance data for clinic is Overall satisfaction with visit 82% Staff courteous and helpful 90% Waiting room time 64% Examination room wait time is less than 15 minutes 63% Patient no-show rate 20% Patient cancellation rate 11% Provider cancellation rate 10% Preregistration rate 16% Average number of patient visits per day 16 Range of patient visits per day 10-23 Instructions – Decide which problem your group wants to focus on as your first priority. Describe the problem and why you chose this problemState the goal for this improvement effortIdentify the fundamental knowledge that is required on the team to solve this problem. Define the people you will invite to participate on the team and the fundamental knowledge they bring to the team.Document the current process (as is described in the case) using a process flow chart.Identify your customers and their expectations.Explore and prioritize root causes of the problem by doing the following:Brainstorm root causes and document the causes on a fish bone diagramDescribe how you would collect data about how frequently root causes contribute to the problem.From the points mentioned below select and explain the ones that apply to improving your process. Be sure to take into account what you have learned from your work in question 1-6Eliminate waste (e.g., things that are not used, unnecessary duplication)Improve workflow (e.g. minimize handoffs, move steps in the process closer together, find and remove bottlenecks, do tasks in parallel, adjust to high and low volumes)Manage time (reduce steps and waiting times)Manage variation (create standard work)Design systems to avoid mistakes (use reminders)Incorporating what you learned in above steps, improve the process and document the improved process with a process flow chart or work flow diagram.Decide what you will measure to monitor the voice of the process and briefly how you would collect the dataBriefly explain your change effort using PDCA cycle. Source Kelly, D.L. (2011). Applying Quality Management in HealthCare. AUPHA.

In recent years there has been incredible growth in the number of software applications that have been designed to help support project management and project management teams. These software options are quite diverse, with individual applications being designed to fit both particular industry knishes as well as different types of project groups with varying constituencies and makeups. With this huge variety of applications available, it is important for project managers to understand the capabilities of several systems, as well as being able to select a system that best meets the needs of the project team that they are managing. In some cases, project groups will use pre-selected software packages, but in other groups, the project manager may have the liberty to select applications that are the best fit for that team.In this assignment, we will be evaluating web-based project management tools that are primarily designed to help manage team interaction and project reporting. In a later assignment, we will be evaluating other tools that are more specifically designed to create schedules and reports.Choose one of the services listed below and write a review that addresses in detail the questions below:Are the features of this software?How does this software facilitate group interaction?How does this software facilitate the sharing of files or project updates?Who do you believe is the primary Market for this service?Thinking about your own project, with this software be a good fit? Why or why not?** An important note: each of the listed packages has the option for you to create a free or trial account. Do not use a paid account to complete this evaluation.All assignments should be completed in a Word document using correct APA formatting (Headers, one-inch margins, and double spacing, title page and Reference page, etc.). Please complete the essay in a Microsoft Word document. Essays that are pasted into the Assignments area will not be accepted. The length of your essay response should be around 800 words and requires a minimum of 2 sources. Points will be deducted for incorrect grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.Assignment File(s)Basecamp. https://basecamp.comBasecamp tutorials. [Webpage] Retrieved from https://basecamp.com/help/2/videosFreedcamp. https://freedcamp.comFlow. https://www.getflow.comFlow tutorials. [Webpage] Retrieved from https://www.getflow.com/supportWrike. https://www.wrike.com Wrike tutorials. [Webpage] Retrieved from https://help.wrike.com/hc/en-us/categories/2011886...Another application you have selected that is approved by your instructor