EVALUATION OF ONLINE PATIENT SAFETY AND QUALITY MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE PROGRAM FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS

Julia M. Kim, MD, MPH 1, 2, 3, Matt Austin PhD 1, 2, Paula S. Kent, DrPH, MSN, MBA, RN, 1, 2, Michael Rosen, PhD 1, 2, Cheryl Connors, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, 1, 2, Christina M. Potter, MBA 2, Elizabeth F. Topper, PhD, MEd, MPH 2, Albert W. Wu, MD 1, 3

1 Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality,

2 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, United States

3 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Introduction: Patient safety and healthcare quality has developed over the past 20 years as a field of research and

practice. There is a need for robust educational programs to build capacity for the quality and safety workforce across

various levels of learners. We evaluated an online patient safety and quality program targeting working professionals with

interest in quality and patient safety.

Methods: The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Master of Applied Science (MAS) in Patient Safety and

Healthcare Quality is a fully online, part-time degree, completed over at least 2 years for working professionals. In this

descriptive study, a survey was conducted of graduating students from the program in 2019 and 2020, including Likert

scale and qualitative questions ranging from overall satisfaction, program experience, and postgraduate plans.

Results: Among 51 respondents (overall 75% response rate), 60% had 10 or more years of prior health-related work

experience, 18% 5-10 years, and 20% 2-5 years. 90% would definitely recommend the Johns Hopkins MAS program to

someone considering the field of patient safety and healthcare quality, and 100% would rate the quality of the academic

experience as very good to excellent. Graduating students reported advanced to expert abilities in achieving program

competencies in quality and safety, such as describing how to assess quality of care for a medical condition (96%),

articulating how to develop a workable quality improvement and evaluation plan (96%), discussing problems and issues

in measuring and reporting safety (92%), demonstrating knowledge of the basics of conducting an incident investigation

and disclosing an adverse event (88%), and designing solutions to improve patient safety (96%). The quality of the

curriculum and quality of teaching and instruction were rated as very good to excellent for 96% and 98% of responses,

respectively. Post-graduate plans included continuing in pre-graduate employment (41%), seeking position (21.6%), committed to new

employment (9.8%), enrolling in another full-time degree program (5.9%), other (13.7%). 100% will be employed full-time

in a health-related position, and 92.3% felt that their position was consistent with their long-term professional goals.

96.2% reported that their job draws on skills and knowledge acquired from their graduate studies in patient safety and

quality.

Conclusion: Graduating working professionals from an online patient safety and healthcare quality master of applied

science program reported achievement of advanced to expert abilities of key competencies in quality and safety and

satisfaction in the quality of the curriculum and teaching. Graduates felt that their jobs draw on skills and knowledge

gained through the program. Online quality and safety programs for working professionals may be effective in building

capacity in the quality and safety workforce.