Ambulatory care encompasses a diverse and growing sector of the healthcare delivery system. Physician services are the chief component. Hospital outpatient and emergency departments, community health centers, departments of health, and voluntary agencies also contribute important services, however, particularly for underserved and vulnerable populations.

Today, patients have many options for how and where they spend their money. That includes selecting a healthcare provider. Hospitals seek to achieve the Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award to excel in improving quality patient care and to be more competitive in health care. St. Davids Healthcare reviewed their operations and knew it was critical for the organization to continually improve. St. Davids healthcare adopted Baldridge criteria.

Assume you are hired as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and one of your first tasks was to conduct a SWOT Analysis of the HIT system at We Care Hospital. Review your SWOT. You have now been working at the healthcare facility for several months. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) would like to become more competitive in the healthcare market and to show their patients they are one of the top-rated hospitals. The CEO asks you to review the Malcom Baldrige requirements to help improve Emergency Room waiting times. Your research found a trend analysis at St. Davids Healthcare facility that earned them the Malcolm Baldridge Award. According to ASQ Knowledge Center, in 2008, wait times were over 45 minutes and steadily declined to just over 15 minutes in 2014.

Write a three to four (4-5) page paper in which you:

    Research peer-reviewed journal articles on how to achieve clinical quality in Ambulatory Care and identify best practices.
    Analyze triage status of Emergency Department Visits in the United States. (Hint: See Figure 5-3 in the textbook).
    Provide a recommendation to the CEO on whether We Care Hospital operations can potentially meet the Malcolm Baldridge award criteria. Why or why not; justify your response.
    Use at least three (3) recent (within the last five [5] years) quality academic resources in this assignment.

Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

    Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
    Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the students name, the course title, the professors name, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

    Assess how changes in the economic and commercial environments have affected the health sector.
    Analyze the relationships between health care cost and health care quality.
    Apply decision-making models to address difficult management situations.