COVER STORY


Choose Meaningful QAPI Topics


Leverage your findings and re-evaluate BY ROBERT KURTZ


C


ompleting a quality assessment and performance improvement (QAPI)


project can take considerable time and effort. As long as your ASC is making that kind of investment, some who have managed QAPI studies in the past advise, make sure that your project goes beyond just meeting the requirements and pro- vides real benefits to your facility. “If your ASC is going to take the time to collect data, analyze it, make


changes based on the findings and then re-measure the data, make sure that you are doing so because it makes sense,” says Michelle Mattson, RN, president and chief executive officer of M Mattson Consulting in Boise, Idaho. “Use the project to your advantage to identify areas that need improvement.” Beverly Kirchner, RN, CASC, chief compliance officer for Surgery- Direct in Littleton, Colorado, adds


10 ASC FOCUS FEBRUARY 2020 | ascfocus.org


“Some QAPI topics to consider are those that might improve patient care and keep patients safer or improve the process flow for your team, which will then free up staff members to become even more effective in their roles. If a topic for a QAPI project is not going to benefit your patients or team, then it is not a topic you should pursue.” Despite having “quality” in its name, QAPI projects are not intended just to improve clinical performance, says Kayla Schneeweiss-Keene, RN, ASC administrator of Mann Cataract Surgery Center in Houston, Texas. “A QAPI project can make an impact on the facility in any aspect of its oper- ations, such as decreasing surgery


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