Performance Improvement

The Performance Improvement Department provides a coordinated, objective and systematic approach to organizational wide performance improvement activities. The PI department is based on an integrated and collaborative team approach to increase the probability of desired outcomes by assessing and improving the governance, managerial, clinical and support processes that most affect patient outcomes. 

The overall goal of the PI department is to assure continuous and incremental performance improvement in the delivery of safe quality care that is efficient, cost effective and consistent with the strategic goals, mission, vision, and values of the University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center (UTHCPC) and regulatory body requirements.

The service responsibility of each area includes:

Patient Relations:

Scope: To serve as a liaison between patients, consumers and the Harris County Psychiatric Center.  The Patient Relations Department enables patients and families to obtain solutions to problems by acting on their behalf and recommending alternate policies and procedures in order to improve services to all patients. The Patient Relations Advocate assists HCPC in meeting requirements of regulatory organizations as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission.

Utilization Review…Cost Effective Management of Healthcare

Scope:  To provide an ongoing, systematic process for measurement and assessment of the necessity, appropriateness and efficiency of the use of services and procedures. To prevent over-and/or underutilization of patient treatment services without compromising the quality of patient care.

The Utilization Review team at UT-HCPC accomplishes this purpose through working with the multi-disciplinary treatment team to develop individualized treatment and discharge plans, providing third-party payers with current clinical data needed to advocate for needed in-patient and out-patient services, and expediting insurance appeals for the client to recover costs of required extended hospital stays.

Environmental Safety

Scope: To create organizational-wide systems that will enable us to identify and eliminate hazards that pose risks to patient, staff, and consumers.

Emergency Preparedness:
Scope: To ensure that the organization has an effective Emergency Operation Plan. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Emergency Operations Plan.  
The EOP is designed to provide appropriate, effective response to a variety of emergency events that could affect the safety of our patients, visitors, and staff and/or the environment of UTHCPC, or adversely impact the hospital‘s ability to provide services to the community

Health Case Management
Scope: To provide a comprehensive occupational health program and to include case management opportunities involving work related injuries, managing, and participating in the planning, development, and assessment of employee health operations.  The case manager helps identify appropriate providers and facilitates throughout the continuum of services while ensuring that available resources are being used in a timely and cost-effective manner in order to obtain optimum value for both the client and the reimbursement source.

Infection Control
Scope: To identify and reduce the risks of endemic and epidemic nosocomial infections in patients and health care workers. Processes are designed for patient care departments and patient support departments to reduce risks for nosocomial infections in patients. To reduce the risk for transmission of infectious among patients, visitors’ and those who serve the institution as well to reduce risks of infections from the environment.  The Hospital Infection Control committee is responsible for implementation of the activities in this area.

Clinical Risk Management

Scope: To identify, evaluate, and reduce the risk of patient injury associated with care.  To trend events as well as identifying, initiating, and coordinating improvement opportunities.

Joint Commission Accreditation

Scope: To assess and ensure ongoing compliance with the Joint Commission standards through reviews, mocks surveys, and team audits. To submit performance data per The Joint Commission guidelines.

Reporting Safety or Quality Concerns:

At UTHCPC, we strive to create and sustain a culture of safety. Providing safe quality care is one of our strategic goals and part of our mission statement.  Outcomes are evaluated through our organizational wide Performance Improvement Committees. Patient and staff safety surveys are also part of the evaluative process.

If you have concerns about safety or quality of care provided at UTHCPC, please contact the following:
*Nursing Administration (713-741-4800),
*Patient Relations 713-741-7859
* Safety Compliance Coordinator (713-741-7869)
*Performance Improvement (713-741-4827),
*Administrator (713-741-7803).

 If the concerns in question cannot be resolved at this level, you may contact The Joint Commission by email - complaint@jointcommission.org or phone 1-800-994-6610.