Expect to spend at least 2 hours with the patient, family, or group you’ll be working with during this portion of your practicum, exploring issues of patient safety, quality, and costs associated with the health problem you’ve defined. This includes time spent in consultation with subject matter or industry experts. You’ll report on the results of this work as part of your next assessment. For this portion of your practicum, discuss, in depth, how the problem will affect patient safety, quality of care, and costs. Consider the following questions to help guide your exploration of quality, safety, and costs and to make the most of your time:
• Has the patient, family or group experienced any serious safety events because of the problem?
• How many times have they gone to the emergency department (ED)?
• How many times have they been hospitalized?
• What is the frequency of ED visits or hospitalizations?
• How many medications are needed to manage the problem?
• Does insurance pay for these medications?
• Have the medications caused any side effects?
• How often are doctors’ visits or other therapies needed?
• Does insurance pay for these visits or treatments?
Practicum Focus Sheet