Improving Health Care Costs And Improve Quality

The delivery of the U.S. healthcare system has changed drastically over the years from the inception of organized healthcare to today’s underdeveloped system. Prior to the 1920’s,

Healthcare is a complex industry that is consistently changing to meet the demand of improving quality patient care. As a member of the healthcare team, we are obligated to provide safe patient-centered care. However, patient care within the facility this nurse is employed is not as effective as it should be. The organization currently utilizes three different charting systems, two electronic health information systems and a paper chart. Each with its own purpose of use. To make matters worse, not all healthcare providers have access to both electronic health information system. Depending on the individuals professional role within the organization, access would be limited to one or the other. Nurses are the only one

In 1983, the Medicare prospective payment program was implemented which allowed hospitals to be reimbursed a set payment based on the patient’s diagnosis, or Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG), regardless of what treatment was provided or how long the patient was hospitalized (Jacob & Cherry, 2007). To keep the costs below the diagnosis related payment, hospitals had to manage efficiently the treatment provided to a client and reduce the client’s length of stay (Jacob & Cherry, 2007). Case management, or internal case management “within the walls” of the health care facilities was created to streamline costs while maintaining quality care (Jacob & Cherry, 2007).

This article offers 10 suggestions on how to improve the overall quality of your health care without increasing your costs. These suggestions certainly are not a substitute for meaningful health care reform, but following these useful tips will enhance communication with your health care provider and help you get the most out of your medical coverage. 1. Read the fine print on your medical insurance policy to avoid unnecessary costs. Some health insurance policies cover preventative care, such as routine physicals and screenings, at 100% with no deductible per 12-month time period. Be aware that a 12-month time period is not the same thing as a calendar year, and keep careful track of when you had your last office visit for preventative care.

Medicare Severity- Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) is a more precise form of classifying a Medicare patient’s hospital stay to facilitate payment to the hospital for the services that was provided. There are 751MS-DRGs, which is a number of groupings that hospitals can evaluate and manage patient billing with. By tracking patients by DRG/MS-DRG, hospitals can benchmark levels and quality of care, and resource use, these three factors can be used to continually improve quality of care and utilization of

Since there are more nurses then doctors it would be prudent for the community to pursue this option. Today there are becoming more out patience nursing care. More and more nurses are going into the homes to provide health care and the independent nursing business. The economical advantage for the nurse is that they have great control of there time

Over the year, the health care system in America undergo many changes; theses changes all focuses on how to deliver better care to the population while cutting hospital cost. The health care method of payments have changed, the hospitals are now getting paid for the services that they provide to the population based on a flat rate determined by Medicare and Medicaid. The patients have to receive proper care for the hospital to get paid and it's the hospital's job to find ways to provide the best care and at the same time find ways to lower hospital cost and make some profit (Kelly, 2012, p. 95). According to industry analysts "Most are seeking to reduce costs by 20 to 30 percent over several years" (Karash, 2013, p. 57 ).

In Pocahontas county West Virginia, tourism is the primary source of income for many, and the driver of the economy due to the abundance of outdoor recreation available year-round. Pocahontas Memorial Hospital (PMH) is established to be a primary care source for this rural community, serving approximately 5% of the state’s population, with only a 25 bed facility (Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2013). PMH wishes to deliver compassionate care and promote healthy lifestyles through working collaboratively with other healthcare facilities, and delivering adequate patient education, while sustaining financial viability (Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2016a). This organization has determined a need, and would like to offer a comprehensive

Controlling the costs of healthcare benefits is something that takes quite a bit of skill from organizations. Companies can either cut costs by using an Alternative Pharmacy Network (APN), outsourcing through business-process outsourcing (BPO), or hiring more contingent workers than non-contingent workers. The health insurance benefit should be both affordable and able to cover the needs of the organization’s employees. By obtaining affordable health care coverage for its employees an organization can use that as an effective recruitment and retention tool. An organization’s goal should aim to provide its employees with affordable healthcare while keeping the costs of providing those benefits down.

Achieving quality health care value is a goal that many different health care institutions strive for. The need has led to the adoption of various quality improvement processes in health care facilities (Stevans, Bise, McGee, Miller, Rockar, & Delitto, 2015). Health care providers and health care institutions are forced to use evidence-based plans as a way of promoting quality healhcare.

In recent years, governments are searching for ways to deliver the equity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness healthcare services to maintain and improve their health systems (WHO, 2004). The aim of equal access to health care for all population groups is the common target for many health care systems. The Australian health care system provides resources on the equal access of a mixed private and public funding system which covers the entire population.

Improving health care services include the increase use of these services and promote use of evidence-based care to manage chronic diseases. “Access to evidence-based preventive services enables you to prevent illness by detecting warning signs or symptoms before disease develop. Detect the disease in an early stage so that treatment and cure are more likely” (Healthy 2020, 2016). In addition to primary care and preventive services, EMS is a crucial link in the chain of care. EMS contributes to primary prevention by providing immunization and other preventive care in association with treatment for acute health problems (Healthy 2020,

Incrisis Hospital has largely been concerned with the increase in the number of calls from its patients about the quality of health care from various departments at the hospital including oncology, X-ray/lab, surgery, and emergency room departments. The health facility is an acute hospital established in 2006 and has been successful in most of its operations despite of the recent increasing discontent from its patients. As part of promoting and supporting high quality of its care services across various departments and improving patient outcome, the facility needs to address this issue. One of the most appropriate measures would include the establishment of quality assurance department through an analysis of costs, quality, and patient outcomes.

A recent study, by Baur, Fehr, Mayer, Pawlu & Schaudel (2011) concluded that the growing demand in health sector, resulted in rapid change in patients’ expectations. As a result, meeting patients’ expectations, while maintaining standards and quality of healthcare service has been the crucial part in health sector. However, maintaining the service standards does not only refer to increasing the number of health professionals. Providing optimal care service to the patient, also contributes hugely in improving quality and standards of health service. Taking this thing in consideration, in 1994, continuing medical education (CME) programme was launched and it gradually broadened to cover professional education. Hence, in 2000, CME programme

In the United States, the quality of the health care system is inadequate. This is an important issue , because many people believe the standard of private insurance should be improved. It has gone through a lot of history to get to where it's at today. Essentially, it has gone through a 100 years of trying to change or devise a system where everyone is satisfied. Many people, are just unsure of how to health care system can be improved. I believe the health care system in the United States can be improved tremendously. In order to improve the overall quality of healthcare in the United States we need to examine how we can improve equity, quality, and efficacy for all in the United States, and ultimately know how