92603 Managing Quality, Risk and Cost in Health Care

Subject level: Postgraduate

Handbook description

This subject is essential grounding for clinicians and managers of health services who seek to implement systems to manage clinical work processes and to monitor their performance. The subject material is advanced, designed for clinicians and managers experienced in health care delivery to acquire the knowledge and skills to comprehensively manage the processes of clinical work, so as to improve the quality, risk and cost outcomes of care within the context of expectations of clinical and corporate governance, organisational performance and workplace change. The subject examines each of the three components individually, and integrates them within a method of clinical process management as the foundation for a model of organisational accountability for patient, clinical and resource outcomes. Excel is used in this subject. No prior knowledge of Excel is needed to undertake this subject.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. apply theoretical knowledge to the practical application of improving health systems and services within an environment of change
2. understand the imperatives for managing service objectives in health care (such as cost, quality and risk) within a governance (clinical and corporate) context
3. analyse the implementation of health service objectives and improvement of health service outcomes from a workplace and organisational systems perspective
4. apply a method of clinical process management to achieve health service objectives in the workplace and at the corporate level of the organisation
5. evaluate service gaps and synthesise a plan of remedial action applied to the student's own workplace as a practical exercise.

Teaching and learning strategies

The course is interactive, directed to both a theoretical and practical understanding of managing health services, as it relates to quality, risk and cost. Students are encouraged to be reflexive about their own environment, as a means of positioning students as practitioners of health reform. Assessment will focus on developing a theoretical understanding of key components of health reform and their practical application in clinical process management.

Content

• the policy context of health service management including clinical and corporate governance, and accountability requirements
• the principles and practices of managing health care, specifically quality, risk and cost
• a method of clinical process management that integrates the three objectives
• the social, organisational and technical dimensions of health service management
• the practical application of these principles and practices within the workplace.