This chapter focuses on interpreting the qualitative data collected during the data collection phase. It also discusses the problems associated with qualitative data analysis and discusses the findings of the research analysis in detail.
Qualitative research is primarily based on collecting and analyzing subjectively rich data that consists of in-depth information normally presented in the form of reports and thesis. Qualitative data analysis is immensely different from qualitative data because it involves reading a large amount of transcript data from interviews and focus groups to look for various similarities and differences. After making links and building connections between the collected data, it becomes easier to build themes and develop conclusions based on these generalizations. The most traditional approach towards qualitative analysis includes color coding and matching data in different categories. However, in recent times, due to technological advancements, it has become extremely easy to use specified software packages that are designed to take input in qualitative format and build conclusions and generalizations (Pope et al., 2000). Qualitative research has become extremely popular in medicine and the healthcare industry. Healthcare is not just limited to medical procedures anymore; it has extended to cover the quality of life care services provided to patients.
Without any question, data analysis is one of the most complex parts of any research study because the literature does not provide any great insight on this matter. In the healthcare industry, using a qualitative analysis strategy serves the purpose of assessing performance. Learning and comprehending verbal pieces of information to find commonalities and differences between the collected information. It is not enough to record and state all the data in a descriptive format. For successful qualitative research, it is important to transform the raw information into a new form of knowledge and apply the analytic processes to this data to interpret it and find new meanings out of the given data set. Not only is it a job of a qualitative researcher to find new meanings but it is also crucial to substantiate the findings by relating them to other relevant literature and past findings. The analytical processes need to follow a logical sequence so that the findings make sense and can be generalized or specialized for a particular setting (Sgier, 2012). For this study, content analysis is the analytical process that will be used to generate findings about the impact of physician privileges on the quality of healthcare and life care services provided to patients. For the successful comprehension and interpretation of the data, it is very important to understand the content analysis technique.
Qualitative Data
It can become very confusing for the readers of the research study to understand how a researcher generated certain findings and connections because often details are not provided. It is difficult to understand the processes leading to the evolution of findings from raw data. Another problem that occurs while qualitative research findings are being discussed is that often the authors use language that is difficult for the readers to understand. The qualitative data can be collected in various forms. In qualitative studies related to health care and medical sciences, the database of data is usually based on interview transcripts based on open-ended questions that are highly focused on a certain subject area but are designed to explore newer connections in the subject area (Moore, 2007). However, qualitative data collection is not limited to interviews, and research shows that the sources for collecting qualitative data are freezing at an exponential rate. New technologies have allowed for recording of observation in video and audio formats, focus groups are an important source for collecting qualitative data, text and documents in addition to make you your fires and photographs side of as techniques to which qualitative data can be collected for research purposes.
Research asked also shows that qualitative research is not just dependent on qualitative data. Qualitative data is dumb, which is different from anything that is not quantitative and cannot be expressed in numerical form. Some major quantitated studies are also using open-ended questions, interviews that are semi-structured, and observations. Qualitative research aims to judge the subject area from a subjective point of view rather than being objective in terms of numbers and measurements. The purpose of qualitative research is to uncover information hidden in people’s subjective experiences, their social interactions, and human experiences. The aim of qualitative research is to uncover meanings in people’s thinking patterns and feelings regarding the circumstances they are part of in daily life (Seers, 2012). The research study based on qualitative data relies on either inductive or deductive reasoning to interpret and structure findings based on the meanings that can be derived (Drisko, 2013). Deductive approach reasoning is the best approach for this qualitative research because the deductive approach starts from an idea and will use the collected data through interviews to either confirm or negate the idea (hypothesis). The deductive approach is basically going to help the researcher in carrying out the hypothesis testing approach. This research study takes help from the theoretical grounds and takes inspiration from existing literature to develop the hypothesis for testing.
Analytical Reasoning Process
Research shows that qualitative research takes an interpretive approach to finding out conclusions and generalizations. The process and study only become successful if the author is able to uncover and deconstruct the meanings of the qualitative data phenomenon. Qualitative research does not focus on how a particular phenomenon operates but rather on the reasons behind the operation of a particular phenomenon. Analyzing is a concurrent process because it often goes hand in hand with the data collection process (Caudle, 2004). The collected data shapes the analysis techniques and the analysis techniques shape what new data is required to continue with the study. Various computer tools in the market allow the researcher to apply various reasoning techniques to conclude findings and generalizations. These tools provide aid in sorting and categorizing the data. Still, the limitation of such tools is that they are not capable of any intellectual and conceptualizing processes that are important in transforming the qualitative data into meaningful findings.
Discussion and Findings
The two organizations that were used for collecting data to find optimal operations regarding physician privilege’s relation to the quality of life care of patients will be presented in the form of codes. The first hospital will be referred to as HOSP1 and the second chosen hospital will be called HOSP2. The first step will be to provide a descriptive analysis of individual hospitals, which will be followed by a detailed comparative data analysis of both hospitals.
In addition to the two hospitals that were initially Jules and for data collection purposes, a third Institute was also approached for the purpose of collecting data so that the competitive analysis could be stronger. The three hospitals are the following
- Riyadh Care Hospital, Riyadh
- Riyadh Central Hospital, Riyadh
- Riyadh National Hospital, Riyadh
While the data was being collected, it was highly observed that these three hospitals have a very conservative model of policies, including policies related to physician privileges, and that it does not change quickly according to the external changes in the external environment. These hospitals have created new management techniques, which have resulted in a dynamic internal environment. They have proven successful in integrating all the areas of the organization, but have had little improvement in some areas. Hospital One, Hospital Two, and Hospital Three have been quite successful in accomplishing their revenue goals and improvement goals in various hospital departments. The administration is focusing on providing the best medical treatment to all patients so that life expectancy can be increased and quality of life can be improved. Interviews were taken with relevant personnel in three organizations’ letters to discover that no hospital management is emphasizing policy planning, and in the future, new policies will be introduced with the aim of increasing the quality of services provided to patients. The respondent clearly stressed the need for better planning and use of knowledge so that the hospitals are able to gain more customers and provide quality procedures. The hospital results are improved, leading to growth in the healthcare industry.
The focus of hospital management is on enhancing the functional capabilities of all positions, medical staff, and nurses so that their abilities can be further polished and they make fewer mistakes. The respondents stated that certain policies need to be formulated and implemented carefully throughout the healthcare industry So that there can be a positive change in hospital policy with regard to privileges provided to physicians and, ultimately, the quality of healthcare services provided to the patients can be improved. All respondents from different organizations claimed that currently, the management is under the command of a qualified nurse who is not yet part of the management level but has done certain courses and has sufficient knowledge to enable them to perform these tasks. The performance of these nurses are quite good with regard to guiding the patients about the procedures accompanying the patients toward the procedure rooms and giving them proper information about their health status.
Role of Feedback of Patients
There was a research question related to understanding the feedback of patients regarding the quality of patient care they receive at these hospitals. The responses of the interview participants help in understanding that after the end of their stay at the hospital, all the patients are required to fill out a form of satisfaction. The questions in this form of satisfaction evaluate patients’ perceptions regarding their experience at the hospital and how well they were treated by the medical staff. When the patients have failed out of these farms of satisfaction, the completed forms are forwarded to the department responsible for maintaining quality management (Tasa et al., 1996). The personnel in this department are responsible for analyzing the patients’ answers. The analysis and evaluation are circled in all the medical staff so that the medical staff can suggest possible improvements. The interviewees’ responses led to the finding that in these hospitals, the process of quality management and improvement is continuous and is carried out daily. The respondents clearly mention that the hospitals seek quality accreditation because they realize that the health system is only effective before the patients if they believe that the hospitals provide excellent quality care.
Role of Management In Maintaining Quality
Another important issue that was investigated in the research study is related to the influence of the management introducing the inefficiency observed in the healthcare services provided by various organizations in the industry. The interviewees clearly stated that management’s role is crucial in ensuring that all the medical staff provide the absolute best quality services to all the patients. It is the duty of the management level personnel to create certain strategies, rules, and regulations that make sure that all the medical staff is following a standard procedure and treatment options so that all patients are treated equally and are satisfied with the level of services provided in any healthier Institute. The respondents also stressed that in addition to management control, learning knowledge and training of the medical staff are the driving forces that shape the quality of service to the patients. If the medical staff is talented and has sufficient skills, good managerial control can become the foundation for creating positive change in order to meet all the needs and expectations of the patients (Beer, 2003). The management in this scenario will be able to maintain transparent actions and encourage learning and education for all medical staff to guarantee continuous improvement.
In the interviews, it was discovered that the physicians in the hospital became a little rebellious because there was more part of the general medical staff, nor had any Involvement directly with the organizational structure; therefore, they did not regard the management as their superior. To make sure that the management dealt effectively with this resistance and rebellious behavior, the management utilized the concept of responsibility defined by literature.
This approach is based on demanding all planning departments encourage decentralization and use open communication as a tool for shared objectives. The respondent clearly stated that according to them doctor is highly responsible for the life of their patience and need to become an agent of change so that improvement can be brought in the healthcare services that I provided to the patients. The hospitals that were approached for the collection of qualitative data are seeking certification so that Bacon can improve quality and make all procedures better to ensure that detailed explanation is provided to all the participants for each step. The respondents mentioned that the organizations are looking into some incentive programs such as scavenger hunts, lectures, and appreciation in order to encourage the effective participation of the hospital staff in building a quality system of providing life care services to the patients.
Impact Of External Factors On Privilege Policy
The respondents were asked about the policies with regard to granting privileges to physicians, and their responses varied. A few participants of the interviews mentioned that there is a committee consisting of professionals from hospital management who evaluate the performance and knowledge of the physicians and then grant privileges for patient care. The respondents believed that improvement is always welcomed and, therefore, that the process of physician privileges can be optimized to increase the quality of the services given at the healthcare institute. However, some participants were so loyal to their employers that they stated that existing processes in their organization were correct and did not need any change or evolution (Xue et al., 2008). Research shows that resistance to change according to the changes in the external environment can prove problematic for these organizations in the future because companies who fail to cope with changes in the external environment are often unable to satisfy their customers.
The respondents from Hospital One faced numerous problems when creating spenders for high-quality customer service and patient gear in their organization because of the external changes, especially the cultural, social, and technological changes that have altered the needs of the patient immensely. To with these changes, the management of this hospital made a report with a detailed analysis of the Internal and external environment and presented this report to the committee members in order to understand how the privilege of policy can be changed to inculcate the industry standards and the needs of the patients (Tzeng and Yin, 2008). With continuous improvement, this hospital obtained level one certification, valid for two years, which assesses the quality of life care services given to the patients and the performance of the physician and medical staff in this healthcare institute.
Overall Analysis
The collected data was analyzed, and the findings were that quality management plays an important role in improving the level of customer service and efficiency of the organization viewed by the public. The respondents from all the hospitals tried to stress that their organization has a quality management Strategy, which is presented in every department, and the aim of management is to improve patient care as well as the overall efficiency of the healthcare industry. Overall, all the respondents emphasized the importance of an effective management role because management is a crucial factor in creating a quality culture that promotes commitment from all the medical staff to ensure that superior patient care is delivered to all the patients (Mohammad and Hossein, 2006). The management has the power and the party to motivate all the hospital employees to actively participate in formulating quality strategies and then implementing the strategy as part of the management system throughout the healthcare industry (Lambrou et al., 2010). The aim of new management practices is to create sustainable practices that reduce costs and improve the quality of life care support given to all patients regardless of demographics.
Effects Of Accreditation
Upon analysis, it was discovered that the effect of certification is profound on the level of quality in the hospital environment. The major advantages are greater safety for the patients as well as medical professionals, the expansion and introduction of new techniques and procedures that are less invasive for the patient, a better recovery rate of patients, and higher satisfaction levels of all the customers. Research studies of the answers given by the respondents show that they believe accreditation presents a better image of the hospital to the patients and the public because the certification makes the hospital procedures more transparent and that the Institute is credible (McAlary, 1981). Such certification assures the public that the healthcare industry practices are up to the mark and that they will receive quality life services if they ever visit the hospital. In conclusion, the analysis of the responses shows a great need to improve the quality of healthcare services through health promotion.
The respondents also mentioned that sometimes the quality of health care in the leases is affected because of the non-cooperation of patience and their attitude. The hospitals have set criteria for the level of patient care provided to every Bashan. Still, the perception of patients about the services is highly dependent on their cooperation with the medical staff and their ability to listen to the doctors and follow the doctor’s orders. Factors like high turnover of physicians and the lack of physical infrastructure in the hospital have a great deal of relationship between the physicians and the quality care provided to the elderly patients. The respondents stressed making comfort table rules for patients of age because placing such patients in an endless queue or in a crowded room can make their conditions worse.
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