Managing patient demographics.
The Harvard Community Health Plan commissioned a cross-functional project team to improve the accuracy of the members' data base because inaccurate patient phone numbers and addresses were a major obstacle for clinicians seeking to provide high-quality service to patients. Accurate demographic information is essential to enable clinicians to contact patients quickly regarding lab results or follow-up care. The team members applied a quality improvement problem-solving methodology that required them to focus on the few vital problems and to test problems using data analysis. As a result, the team saw firsthand that staff members were not to blame for the inaccurate demographic information; the problem was in the automated system that obtains, updates, and maintains the records.
Baumstein
C
C
Kenmore Center of Harvard Community Health Plan, Boston, MA.
Block
S
S
Whitworth
J
J
D000555:Ambulatory Care Information Systems / Q000592:standards*; D001900:Boston; D003710:Demography; D004496:Education, Continuing; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000592:standards; D008332:Management Quality Circles; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*