Improving Quality Of Health Care

“Patient satisfaction is undoubtedly on the minds of hospital administrators in an increasingly consumer-driven healthcare system. With patient

Healthcare is in a constant state of change with movements that impact rates, access and quality of care. Hospitals have become more competitive due to the rising cost of care delivery and the reduction in reimbursement from payers. This causes difficulty in delivering quality care to all patients, which is being measured by mandated patient perception surveys, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). HCAHPS scores are part of value

patient and family satisfaction could go a long way to advance the quality of patient care throughout the hospital.

Quality of service should be one of the most important and well monitored goals for any medical facility, from your small town family doctor’s office, to nursing and rehabilitation facilities, all the way to large hospital systems. The quality of service provided in a facility doesn’t just affect the patients. Quality of service also affects the bottom line, or whether or not the hospital system is profitable. In order to better access the system’s current quality of service and to devise improvement plans I would need to explore issues that have significant effect on quality of care such as, patient satisfaction and retention, medical errors

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

Health care organizations should work on putting more emphasis on patient experience and satisfaction, such as giving evaluations when giving care. When it comes to patient satisfication the healthcare system should put their sole focus on making sure patient were well taken care of during their visit. Whether if the patient was satisfied or not with their experience. Patient experience/satisfaction in a hospital should always be a number one priority and getting the person back at 100%. Hospitals are always looking for ways to improve several different things such as technology, health in populations, reducing cost, maintaince, etc. But they fail to focus on the quality care, Avoidable harm is a worthy goal that all health care system should benefit

The health care system of the United States is dysfunctional and broken. While many upper and middle class Americans have nothing to worry about since they can afford health care insurance, the lower class are neglected and pushed to the side. Including funding and performance, the costs of the health care insurance has caused current political evaluations. Yes, Medicaid does cover the poor Americans, but you do not receive the same treatment and coverage as someone with insurance. Most Americans are aware that there are many problems with the current health care system in the United States. There are little to none access to these affordable health care insurances and the prices are rising

Throughout the United States, patient satisfaction has become increasingly significant in the quality of healthcare that is delivered to patients (Bleich, Özaltin, & Murray, 2009). The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey is one national survey that has become more widely used in hospitals that measures patients’ perspectives of hospital care today (CMS, 2015). There are two

According to Medical Scribe Journal, “Feedback from HCAHPS is helpful not only for physicians but also for hospitals as they work on improving their communication tools and tactics. Moreover, has shown an inverse correlation between patient satisfaction and medical malpractice risk.” Hospitals who score higher have a better engagement and understanding with patients, as well as great doctor–patient relationship, which improves patient satisfaction. However, the assessment of quality of care might not equal clinical measures of quality.

Many health care leaders, authors, and professionals have given their time and effort to write and discuss quality. Quality is now recognized as one of the key aims in healthcare today. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has had a profound impact on health care in America and the view of quality within health care facilities. The National Roundtable on Health Care Quality met six different times between 1996 and 1998 to look at changes regarding quality in health care. Within their conclusion they said, “Serious and widespread quality problems exist throughout American Medicine” (IOM, 1998). The terms underuse, overuse, and misuse evolved here to describe the errors occurring in health care. These errors were hurting more patients than the population realized and once published the trust towards healthcare was low and many had questions. Their review at the roundtable combed through what was currently the norm in health care. Based on the experience of the members of the roundtable, it was not up to par and a shift was necessary to improve healthcare outcomes.

Definitions of the quality of medical care are no longer left to clinicians who decide for themselves what technical performance constitutes “good care.” What are the other dimensions of quality care and why are they important? What has changed since the days when “doctor knows best?”

The necessity for quality and safety improvement initiatives permeates health care. Quality health care is defined as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge” (Kohn, Corrigan & Donaldson, 2000). Most care deficits are based in systems and processes and not individuals. Healthcare is has variation and complexity.

Policymakers in the U.S. have always looked for ways to control health care costs and improve quality. Diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) are by far the most important cost-control and quality improvement tool that governments and private payers have implemented. Initially developed as a tool for hospital management, DRGs became the basis of the inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) that Medicare implemented in 1983. The strong incentives were revolutionary in their impact. Medicare spending growth slowed sharply, and, more remarkable, hospitals posted record profits. After the link between cost and payment was broken, hospitals moved quickly to cut costs. The DRG experience offers lessons about the effectiveness of financial incentives, the likelihood of adverse effects, the usefulness of case-mix measures, the risks of growing complexity, and the example that sensible policy need not be the domain of any one political party.

Health care systems are reporting and monitoring quality of care indicator data with increasing regularity.

Quality is one of the most essential elements of healthcare. As stated by the Agency of Health Research and Quality, “Everyday, millions of Americans receive high-quality health care that helps to maintain or restore their health and ability to function” (Agency of Health Research and Quality, 2014). Improvements have become vital to the success of health care organizations and in the Healthcare Quality Book, it is explained that quality in the U.S. healthcare system is not at the standard that it should be (Ransom, Joshi, Nash & Ransom, 2008). Although this has been a reoccurring issue, attempts to fix the insufficiency have been less successful than expected.