Program Overview

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Quality, Patient Safety and Outcomes Research Certificate Program

Overview

The Quality, Patient Safety and Outcomes Research Certificate program is designed for graduate students from the Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing, as well as health-related professionals interested in quality, patient safety, and outcomes research. This program can be completed entirely online.

Educational Objectives

Upon completing the certificate program, students will gain competencies in quality, patient safety, and outcomes research. Although the program does not provide training in conducting research, students will be able to:

Quality

• Describe several frameworks and theories for assessing and improving the quality of medical care
• Describe current key policy and programmatic areas in quality of care
• Understand how to assess quality of care for a medical condition
• Describe key elements of published quality assessment and improvement studies
• Understand how to develop a workable quality improvement and evaluation plan

Safety

• Recognize the extent of problems in patient safety in medical care
• Describe the role of various systems and factors in creating safety and in causing errors and adverse events
• Discuss problems and issues in measuring and reporting safety
• Demonstrate knowledge of the basics of conducting an incident investigation and disclosing an adverse event
• Design solutions to improve patient safety
• Understand the ethical, legal, and regulatory implications related to patient safety

Patient Outcomes Research

• Argue for the importance and challenges of using patient and consumer-reported measures in research, clinical practice, and program evaluation
• Compare the different types of instruments available to measure health-related quality of life
• Critique the use of commonly used patient-reported outcomes in specific applications
• Plan the development of a new questionnaire
• Understand the role of patient-centered outcomes research in improving health, including its place in the U.S. research portfolio, the importance of stakeholders in the research process, and policy implications related to implementation
• Identify study designs and methodologies unique to patient outcomes research

Admissions

For complete information about applying to the certificate program, including contact details, please visit the certificate program page on the Bloomberg School of Public Health website.

Sponsoring Department

The sponsoring department for this certificate program is Health Policy and Management.

Requirements for Successful Completion

The certificate program requires a minimum of 21 term credits, including three required courses and at least nine credits of elective courses. All required and elective courses must be taken for a letter grade, with a minimum grade of C required in all certificate coursework. Students must maintain a 2.75 or better overall GPA for all certificate coursework. The program must be completed within three years.

Course of Study

Students should check the BSPH course directory to confirm when courses are offered, as well as any prerequisites and whether instructor consent is required.

Required Courses

• PH.309.712: Assessing Health Status and Patient Outcomes (typically offered online in 2nd term) - 3 credits
• PH.309.730: Patient Safety and Medical Errors (typically offered online in 3rd term) - 3 credits
• PH.311.615: Quality of Medical Care (typically offered online in 1st term) - 3 credits

Elective Courses

Students must complete at least nine credits from the following elective courses, selecting from at least two domains:

Domain 1: Quality of Care

• PH.221.722: Quality Assurance Management Methods for Developing Countries (typically offered onsite and online in 1st term) - 4 credits
• PH.309.609: Palliative and Hospice Care: Inequality, Equality and Quality of Care (typically offered alternate years onsite in 3rd term) - 2 credits
• PH.390.678: Introduction to Quality Improvement & Knowledge Translation Research (typically offered online in 1st term) - 3 credits

Domain 2: Patient Safety

• PH.309.600: Evaluating Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Programs (typically offered onsite in Winter Institute and online in 1st term) - 3 credits

Domain 3: Health Economics and Economic Evaluation

• PH.313.790: Introduction to Economic Evaluation (typically offered online in 4th term) - 3 credits

Domain 4: Health Care Management and Informatics

• PH.309.631: Population Health Informatics (typically offered online in 2nd term) - 3 credits
• PH.312.600: Managing Health Services Organizations (typically offered online in 3rd term) - 4 credits
• PH.312.620: Performance Measurement in Health Care (typically offered virtually in Winter and Summer Institutes) - 2 credits
• PH.312.633: Health Management Information Systems (typically offered online in 3rd term) - 3 credits

Domain 5: Methods

• PH.340.606: Methods for Conducting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (typically offered onsite in 3rd term) - 4 credits
• PH.340.686: Introduction to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (typically offered onsite and online in Summer Institute) - 2 credits

Domain 6: Practicum

• PH.309.864: Quality, Patient Safety, and Outcomes Research Practicum (This course is distinct from what students may have completed for their MPH Capstone and/or MPH Practicum. It is typically offered onsite in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th terms) - 3 credits

Before completing the certificate program requirements, students should review the section of the website that addresses completion. The student's transcript will not indicate that the certificate was earned until the Notification of Completion has been submitted, verified by the certificate program, and processed by the Registrar.