Improving the Quality of Healthcare
Although the quality of healthcare in the USA has improvedconsiderably over the decades, there is still a lot more that needsimprovement. Such areas as cost of healthcare, insurance cover andpromptness of service still need more work. Areas that needimprovement may vary from one organization to another, depending onthe organizational structure. Improving the quality of services inany organization would require the joint effort of the stakeholdersoperating within. Even then, the organization will have to come upwith a solid plan to implement the improvements. This essay describesthree major ways through which a healthcare organization can improvethe quality of services it offers. The paper also comments on themethods proposed for quality improvement.
Increasing the opportunities for improving healthcare
Theorganization can identify opportunities for improvement by usingmethods such as registries that enable care providers to assess theirperformance (McCellan, 2013). The registries can also assess how thepatients are doing and their levels of satisfaction. It so happensthat sometimes an organization can fail to detect areas that needimprovement until they are pointed out by patients.
The underside to this solution is that an organization cannot rely onpatients alone to point out the areas that need improvement. Thirdparties cannot detect poor performance in areas such as coordinationand administration. It is in this regard that I propose the use ofquality assessment tools to improve the quality of services. Theassessment tool will place the organization in a strategic positionin comparison with the quality of services offered by otherorganizations.
Policy Reforms to support better healthcare
An organization will need a complete overhaul of its system, startingfrom the policy level, in order to improve the quality of services itoffers. Creating policies that will increase the resources availableto the caregivers will go a long way in improving the servicesoffered by the organization. Other positive policies includeproviding better working conditions for the employees, increasingaccountability and transparency, and performance appraisal.
The primary problem with the use of policy reforms to improve thequality of healthcare is the lack of implementation. Prior experiencehas shown that the implementation stage of a policy is the hardestpart. In addition, implementing such policies could lead tounprecedented problems, which will further impair the quality ofservices. This misgiving can be averted if the policymakers ensurethat the policies are implemented in their entirety. Regarding theunprecedented problems, the policymakers can allow room foramendments.
Human Resource Development
The dynamic nature of the healthcare environment demands that theemployees are constantly updated on emerging issues. A healthcareorganization can improve the quality of services by training itsemployees on the newest technology (Dussalt & Dubois, 2003). Someof the employees in an organization went to college when thehealthcare technology was very primitive. With the new technologicaladvancements in equipment and system of governance, such employeeswill require a refresher course.
The downside to this proposal is the expense and the risk ofpoaching. It is worth noting that there are cheaper methods of humanresource development including seminars and conferences. Aboutpoaching, the organization can create a favorable working environmentthat will motivate the employees to turn down the advances ofpoachers.
References
Dussault, G., & Dubois, C. A. (2003). Human resources for healthpolicies: a critical component in health policies. Human resourcesfor health, 1 (1), 1.
McClellan, M., (2013). Improving Health Care Quality: The PathForward. Brookings. Retrieved from <http://www.brookings.edu/research/testimony/2013/06/26-improving-health-care-quality-mcclellan>accessed June 4, 2016.