Scope of Project: A hospital credentialing department must QA 100% of coordinator files to ensure Joint Commission and other state regulatory agency standards are met. Performance metrics are defined by management to ensure each coordinator processes files with the ultimate compliance goal in mind. Therefore, requiring management to track the metrics of all files processed, for each coordinator, and to produce accurate metrics reports for monthly coordinator rounding and leadership review.
Problem: There was a total of eight coordinators processing on average 10 to 30 files per month. There was one QA supervisor responsible for QA’ing 100 percent of the team’s files. This was accomplished by creating a hand-written, paper review for each file. At the end of the period, the paper files were transferred to the main office. The manager for the team was then responsible for reviewing each sheet of paper and logging the defined metrics for each week, each coordinator, on a basic Excel worksheet. The Excel file had to be produced for every instance of file review. This process took hours in the form of days, and management found it difficult to produce a suitable report for use in the monthly rounding. Furthermore, management did not have a useful tool to determine the overall success of the compliance and processing goals of the department.
Solution: I created a custom Access application that presented each QA’d file on a manager’s file review form. This form displays the file and coordinator information, line corrections, and initial error count. The File Review Form allows the manager to make comments, review comments entered by the processing coordinator in a sister form, and adjust the noted corrections and error count. To build the application, I initially integrated the file details from the main enterprise, Echo database. This required an import of a .csv file containing the QA notes and processing details for each file. However, the memo text field type in Echo did not play well with Office and required extensive formatting before importing. Ultimately, the custom application tracks the cumulative coordinator and team metrics. Data entry and integrity is controlled with smart entry forms and adequate data rules and restrictions. I automated the queries as well as the reports, enabling management to enter parameters for the desired timeframe, and/or coordinator, file. As with most of my databases, I created a dashboard which gave management an updated, daily view of the numbers and some automation tools.
K Henry Credentialing Consultant & Microsoft Access Database Developer 