Quality Assurance Coordinator
UW CODE AND REPRESENTATIVE GROUP
18241 (NE S SEIU 925 Non Supv)
22535 (NE H NI SEIU 925 Non Supv)
CLASS SERIES CONCEPT
Perform quality of care review and design quality assurance studies.
BASIC FUNCTION
Conduct analysis and make diagnosis based on multiple sources of health care information to assess quality of care; participate in quality assurance studies. Recommend protocols, procedures and/or systems as a result of the analysis.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
Under general direction, conduct quality of care reviews and recommend and design quality assurance studies.
TYPICAL WORK
Obtain patient care information from multiple sources such as generic screen referrals, tissue referred for Pathology and Operating Room Data Bases, Professional Review Organization/Washington, FOCUS/studies, Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Incident Reports/Patient Complaints, Procedural Indications Review, diagnostic tests such as x-rays, and the case mix data base system;
Review sources of information to assess quality of care and report quality concerns to the Quality Assurance Director and refer for physician and appropriate committee review;
Recommend policy and procedure changes to improve care and patient outcome utilizing clinical knowledge base;
Conduct ongoing literature reviews to determine standards of practice;
Operate the hospital case mix data system; prepare reports from the system on an ongoing basis;
Monitor trends using collected data and determine, in conjunction with the Quality Assurance Director, if further study and assessment is indicated;
Determine severity of quality of care issues or events affecting patient care; recommend and design quality assurance studies;
Maintain generic screening database with continued entries and updates; enhance database, statistics, and report generating capacity in conjunction with the information systems staff;
Modify review processes to assure their validity;
Maintain updated knowledge of Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards, hospital policies and procedures, and medical staff bylaws; advise hospital committees and personnel of these standards;
Prepare quality assurance reports on an established basis for hospital managers, medical staff, department chairs, and the Quality Assurance Director;
Participate in assigned committee meetings such as Blood Utilization, Medication Administration, Medical Records, Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Infection Control, and Safety; report pertinent information to Quality Assurance department;
Perform related duties as required.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Associate of Arts degree in nursing plus college course work in statistical analysis and information reliability and validity AND three years of clinical experience in an acute-care setting AND one year of experience performing quality of care or utilization review at a professional review organization or at an acute care hospital
OR
equivalent education/experience.
Legal Requirement
Current license to practice as a registered nurse in the State of Washington.
CLASSIFICATION HISTORY
04/02/1991: New Class
05/01/2000: New to CSA
06/01/2005: CSR Class Conversion