Discover the Healthcare Quality Competency Framework
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Created by experts, informed by data, and continuously updated and validated, the framework represents:
- 8 domains and 28 competencies available to all, as well as skill statements accessible through select NAHQ programming
- A common vocabulary, knowledge and toolset, ensuring the workforce is aligned across the healthcare continuum for everyone who plays a role in Quality & Safety (which is everyone in healthcare!)
Quality Review & Accountability
Direct the activities that impact organizational reimbursement, public reporting and support compliance with organization-wide voluntary, mandatory, and contractual requirements.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Relate payment models and the impact of healthcare quality, safety, and patient experience initiatives to organizational reimbursement.
- Create and implement a plan to meet measure reporting requirements for quality, safety, regulatory and patient experience.
- Facilitate physician and clinical provider performance review activities.
Regulatory & Accreditation
Direct organization-wide processes for evaluating, monitoring, and improving compliance with internal and external regulatory requirements. Lead the organization’s processes to prepare for, participate in, and follow up on regulatory, accreditation, certification surveys and complaint/grievance activities.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Operationalize processes to support compliance with regulations and standards.
- Facilitate continuous survey readiness activities.
- Lead the organization through survey processes, findings, and plan of corrections.
Patient Safety
Cultivate a safe healthcare environment by promoting safe practices, a safety culture, and improving processes that detect, mitigate or prevent harm. Safety is to be a core value for the organization, which includes the effective and equitable engagement of patients and their families, caregivers, and the clinical teams.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Assess the organization’s safety culture and safety practices.
- Apply safety science principles and methods to healthcare quality and safety work, leveraging safety curriculum and competencies to promote teamwork.
- Use organizational procedures to identify and report patient and workplace safety risks and events.
- Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to analyze safety risks and events to improve processes.
Health Data Analytics
Leverage the organization’s analytic capabilities to help guide data-driven decision-making and inform quality and safety improvement initiatives. An organization’s health data analytics responsibilities may reside in multiple functional areas, require cross-functional coordination, and can directly impact quality, safety, and patient experience measurement.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Apply procedures for the management of data and systems.
- Design data collection and data analysis plans to support quality, safety, regulatory and patient experience work activities.
- Integrate data from internal and external source systems to support quality, safety, regulatory, and patient experience.
- Use statistical and visualization methods to transform data into information.
Population Health & Care Transitions
Evaluate and improve healthcare processes and care transitions to advance the efficient, effective, timely, equitable, and safe care of individuals and defined populations across the continuum.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Integrate population health strategies into quality and safety work.
- Apply a patient-centered, holistic approach to drive and monitor improvement.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to improve care processes and transitions for safe and effective care delivery across the continuum.
Performance & Process Improvement
Use performance and process improvement (PPI), project management, and change management methods to support quality and safety initiatives (e.g., clinical, operational, patient experience, workforce safety) to improve and sustain performance and achieve organizational goals.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Implement standard performance and process improvement (PPI) methods into individual, team and project work activities.
- Apply project management methods to regular work activities.
- Use change management principles and tools for improvement projects and initiatives.
Quality Leadership & Integration
Advance the organization’s commitment to healthcare quality and safety through collaboration, learning opportunities, and communication. Lead the integration of quality and safety into the organization's fabric through a coordinated infrastructure to achieve organizational objectives.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Direct the quality and safety infrastructure to achieve organizational objectives.
- Apply procedures to regulate the use of privileged or confidential information.
- Integrate stakeholder feedback into the quality and safety infrastructure and foster interprofessional teamwork.
- Create learning opportunities to advance healthcare quality and safety throughout the organization.
- Communicate effectively with different audiences to achieve quality and safety goals.
Professional Engagement
Advance healthcare quality and safety with a commitment to practicing ethically and enhancing one’s competence to advance the discipline.
COMPETENCY STATEMENTS:
- Integrate ethical standards into professional practice that support healthcare quality and safety.
- Engage in lifelong learning that supports healthcare quality and safety.
- Participate in activities that advance healthcare quality and safety practices.
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