Starting in 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated fundamental changes to how hospitals are paid for…

Starting in 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated fundamental changes to how hospitals are paid for services for Medicare recipients, called Value Based Purchasing. This funding mechanism provides incentives to hospitals to reduce rates of preventable injuries. One of the measures used by CMS is hospital borne infections.

Last month Healthy Hospital hired a new director, Ms. Doit Now. She has reviewed the CMS data for Healthy Hospital and wants to focus on reducing the rate of infections.

The research question for the project is “how can we reduce hospital borne infections?”.

Ms. Now asked her assistant do a background search related to the research question. Mr. Assist found that one key element related to infection rates is effective hand washing and that the Centers for Disease Control provided hand washing guidelines that he could use as a standard (CDC, 2012).

Based on his research, he developed a refined research question: Are staff washing their hands according to standards proposed by the CDC?

In this Discussion, you will recommend a quantitative design to provide numerical data related to hand washing compared to CDC standards.

Director Now could use any of the following designs:

·                   Behavioral observation

·                   Correlation research

·                   Quasi-Experimental design

·                   Survey research

·                   True experimental design

Which type of quantitative design do you think is most appropriate? Why?

What specific data collection tool would you use? Why?

What numbers will result from your quantitative process? (Remember that quantitative data designs yield numbers.)

How would you measure the rate of infections? (Remember you need data for both parts of the hypothesis.)

Be sure to define the research terms in your own words with citations in the body of the text and references at the bottom of the post. Explain your choice of design through effective analysis of your option, i.e. identify strengths and weaknesses of your choice and why you believe the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Discuss the process you will use to implement your idea.

IMPORTANT: Each person should pick a different research design until all have been discussed at least once. This will enhance your discussion.

When responding to student colleagues:

Provide respectful critical analysis of the ideas presented. There are many choices of research design processes for Director Now’s quantitative study. To add to the Discussion provide analysis of any ethical concerns related to your colleague’s research design and how you would ensure that the ethical principles are met. Additionally, you could identify different choices and explain your reasons.

Pick at least one design that you did not use in your answer when responding on the board.

References

Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program Fact Sheet. (2011). Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, ICN 907664. Retrieved from http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads/Hospital_VBPurchasing_Fact_Sheet_ICN907664.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Handwashing: Clean Hands Saves Lives. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/

 

   These are the references provided to me for help