QI Plan Part II--Quality Data Collection Research Paper

QI Plan Part II--Quality Data Collection - Research Paper Example A large number of software packages are available in the market for recording daily hospital records. A tool as simple as excel spreadsheet can also be used to handle small amount of transactions for smaller organizations. Databases such as access can also be utilized. This would maintain a daily list of electronic records making it easy to sort, filter and backtrack any information. Health Management information systems (HMIS) can also be used to record and monitor data. This could contain supervisory data, clinic record data, drug stock-outs data, functioning of outreach services and health workers availability. The information could include internal activities, number of beds, daily admissions and discharges, number of causalities and duration of stay. Self administered surveys help in revealing characteristics of the entire population by considering large sample sizes. Many questions can be asked on a given topic and the response to them can be analyzed with flexibility. These surveys eliminate the limitations of self-administered surveys. Personal interviews are an alternative to surveys. The control of the interview is in the hands of the interviewer rather than respondent leading to better response and accuracy. The scope for confusion decreases significantly. Also the interviews are useful in cases where the interviewee is a senior executive or a leader of an organization and doesn’t have time to fill written survey (Data Collection Tools). Focus groups are used to obtain specific information which may not be possible using other methods. The focus group consists of people who exhibit a certain peculiar characteristic. For example, the satisfaction level of heart patient who went through bypass surgery in a hospital can be noted a few months after the surgery by forming their focus group. Focus groups contain 6-12 people generally. This ensures sufficient diversity in the group without compromising on attention to everyone in the group.