Master degree in Healthcare Quality Management by the Applied Sciences University of Utrecht
Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management
Professionals in the field of health care and welfare need to manage and deliver health services in such a way that Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management is guaranteed at the highest level. Care is coordinated around patient needs and is safe, effective, timely, efficient and of good quality.
Clients present themselves as articulate consumers, and cultural diversity demands increasingly more specific expertise and an alternative care organization, such as sequenced healthcare, disease management and integrated care.
This has created a need for professionals skilled in both the managerial and content-related aspects of their specialties who can analyze, (re)design and steer complex, frequently multidisciplinary health and welfare processes and innovation.
The structure of this program was created in close cooperation with the KFMC Quality Management department and ATA department.
This course provides healthcare professionals with the tools they require for the design and improvement of Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management.
Educational program
The course is a competence- oriented, two-year part-time program (21 hours per week). After two years of study, students will be competent professionals who are equipped to make a significant contribution to necessary upgrades and innovations in complex, multidisciplinary settings. This course of study offers a cohesive, blended program with regard to content, level and didactics (distance learning combined with face-to-face training). The determinant for the cohesive nature of the program is the combination of three aims:
All of this takes place in a highly effective learning environment in which practice is the focal point and the student utilizes state-of-the-art knowledge from a variety of sources, including scientific literature and a best practice network of experts. Each module is completed with an assignment which enables the student to create his own distinct profile, because the assignment yields an immediate resolution to a practical issue.
The program
In the first year, the core of study lies in the development of academic competences and a deepening of specialized comprehension. A great deal of attention is paid to critical reflection with regard to the development of leadership. In the second year the course are more advanced and require more self-directed learning. For two years, students work through 4 modules of twenty weeks each in which they combine working and studying. Each completed module is worth 15 EC and is awarded with a certificate. The four certificates combined are the Master Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management.
Support
A group instructor provides students with support for the understanding of the cohesion of the program as a whole and helps to solve any problems that may arise with regard to the progress of their studies and assignments. In addition, they have a mentor at their workplace. Above all, this mentor assists with the development of a realistic image of the profession and the integration of the subject matter in this image.
Goal of the program
After the successful completion of this graduate program, students are an authority in the field of Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management s, they are able to think assertively and strategically and take action based on process- and business-oriented insights. The competences are directed t oward the fulfilment of the roles of quality care designer, process manager, advisor, professional leader.
Title
After the successful completion of the Applied Sciences University of Utrecht Master of Science accredited (60 EC) program, students will have earned the title: Master Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management.
Admission Requirements
In order to be accepted students must possess the following:
- A completed recognized course of higher professional education or a comparable competency level in the field of health care and
- At least two years of relevant work
- An adequate level of
Admission via assessment
If students do not meet the admission requirements, it is nonetheless possible that they may be admitted via an assessment. In this assessment the higher professional education cognitive and work level must be demonstrated.
Modules
The topics in this schedule are numbered. Some of the topics will be offered twice, once in year one, once at a more advanced level in year two.
Module 1 Introduction in Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management Certificate
Topic 1: Principles of Quality Management and Patient Safety in Health Care
A foundation for the study of quality management, patient safety, performance improvement, and voice-of-the-patients concepts.
Topic 7 : Patient Safety and Risk Management – Advanced
Content focuses on how to establish a culture of safety. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis and other assessment tools are shared to help participants develop and implement risk-reduction strategies.
Topic 8: Fundamentals of Methods for Quality & Safety – Advanced
The improvement methods taught in this module are organized to be used at each stage of the performance improvement cycle.
Topic 10: Healthcare Policy, System and Regulation
Social, political, and economic context within health-care system developed including their impact on health administration and leadership. Selected policy issues will be explored through the application of political concepts and behavioral models, including a system model of policymaking.
Topic 12: Quality, Patient Safety, and Outcomes Research Practicum Integrates the concepts of outcomes management and research as the basis to improve the quality and effectiveness of health care organizations.
Module 2 Leadership in Quality and Patient Safety Certificate
Topic 1: Advanced
Topic 2: Leadership and Planning in Quality Management
Participants learn about the styles and role of leadership and how to build a culture of safety in a high- reliability organization. Leadership concepts and management principles as employed by clinical professionals in health care organizations.
Focus on effective approaches of communication, change and conflict management, performance and financial management, and cultural competence.
Topic 3: Information Management in Health Care Quality
This provides an understanding of medical record reviews, policies and procedures, and communication about quality management information, the practice of acquiring, analyzing and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care.
Topic 11: Organization Development & Change in Health Care. Applications of a broad theoretical base in planned change to solve managerial/ organizational problems in health professions.
Module 3 Information and Performance Management Certificate
Topic 3 Advanced
Topic 5
Data Collection in Performance Measurement and Quality Management – Advanced Participants gain knowledge about concepts, methods, and tools for selecting and describing performance measures and collecting data.
Topic 6
Principles of Performance Measurement and Data Analysis for Performance Improvement – Advanced
This course explains how to use basic statistics and graphing to analyze and display data. Use of comparative data from internal and external sources for improving performance measures in health care organizations; benchmarking performance measures; public reporting of data; methods use to improve quality scores.
Topic 9
Utilization Review in Healthcare Program evaluation, performance improvement and other methods of measuring outcomes are examined for their utility within the health care setting. Systematic approaches for evaluating and analyzing processes of care delivery and their impact on patients and organizational processes.
Module 4. Advanced Patient Safety & Risk Management Certificate
Topic 4: Systems Approach to Quality Management – Advanced Participants are introduced to system thinking and how to design and use process maps for quality improvement, continuous improvement, lean thinking and so on.
Topic 11 Advanced
Topic 13
Ethics in Healthcare
Explores selected ethical theories related to health care practices. The history of ethical models in healthcare are examined as is the potential paradigm shift in ethical theory due to limited healthcare resources. Both institutional and broader health care policies related to ethical issues will be examined and its vital impact on the quality of patient care.
Topic 14 Capstone
Address
Institute of Nursing Studies Faculty of Healthcare
University of Applied Sciences
Heidelberglaan 7
3584 CS Utrecht The Netherlands
