Scenario:$$ As the HIM Data Quality Analyst for a large teaching healthcare organization $(350$ beds$),$ you are responsible for verifying data errors on all externally reported data.$$ You have just received two spreadsheets of data that were sent to Regional Quality Organization $($quality organization$)$ in which your hospital participates in data submissions.$$ Quarterly your Information Services sends files of data to this organization.$$ The data is then run through the reporting organization$$s data scrubber which pulls out certain cases that do not meet the quality standards required by the reporting organization.$$ The data quality standard is that healthcare organization$$s submitting data should not exceed a $5\%$ error rate.$$ Your healthcare organization is experiencing a $5\mathrm{.}5\%$ error rate at this time for both sets of data $$ inpatient & outpatient.$$ This rate needs to be below the threshold of $5\%$ and your assignment this week will provide a plan for decreasing the error rates for either inpatient or outpatient externally reported data.

Steps for Assignment Completion:

$1.$ Review the inpatient Download inpatientand outpatient Download outpatientdata sets in the Excel Workbook. Do not print out the worksheets as it will take lots of paper.$$

$2.$ Select one of the two data sets to complete this assignment either inpatient or outpatient $$ not both.

$3.$ Create a memo to the Director of HIM outlining the steps you are going to undertake to research the errors and what additional assistance you may need throughout the hospital in cleaning up some of the errors. Make sure you note which error report you are focusing on within this memo $$ inpatient or outpatient.

$4.$ Group the errors depending on responsibility such as HIM Coding, Patient Financial Services, Registration, and other. Provide aggregate numbers of audit edits and audit types $($fatal or warning$)$ Outline the steps you are going to take to make sure that the next quarter$$s data does not contain the same errors.$$ Describe whether or not you feel the errors are valid.$$ Describe how you will obtain further clarification on the errors if needed.

$5.$ Utilize good memo formatting by addressing the memo to the Director of HIM. Remember good memo formatting includes an introduction $($one paragraph$),$ content, and wrap$-$up paragraph that invites the reader into the subject and$/$or requests follow$-$up from the reader.$$

$6.$ On the last page of your memo, create a data display comparing the number or percentage of error types. Remember a good data display has a comprehensive title, and labels on the X and Y axis, and the data values should make sense for externally reported data. You need to include the source of the data which is the Regional Quality Organization and the time frame of the data

Error Legend Information:

$$Column $1$: MRNColumn

$2$: Encounter date: This is the date the encounter occurred for outpatients and the discharge date for inpatients

Column $3$: Audit edit: These are the edits that occur when the data sent from the healthcare organization is put through the data analysis software at the external reporting source

Column $4$: Audit type: Fatal or Warning Fatal errors must be fixed. Warning errors should be researched and a plan in place for prevention

Column $5$: Audit value: This is the value that is in the actual data field and results in being flagged as an error

Column $6$: Audit message: This is the message that results from the noted audit value as it is flagged as an error