What do you believe is the greatest achievement that the health care industry has made from both the patient and provider perspectives? Why?
In the past decade, there has been significant improvement in the maternal and infant health with respect to the healthcare industry. The rate of neural tube defects and infants born with heritable or metabolic disorders have reduced owing to new diagnostic and treatment modalities. In the early 1990’s, the US government led to the implementation of folic acid fortification in all cereal grains that were termed as enriched. This movement led to the reduction of neural tube defect by 39% from 1996 to 2006. The movement led to the prevention of over 10,000 neural tube defects associated pregnancies. The healthcare industry saved nearly $4 billion in direct costs linked with neural tube defects (Akachi, Y., et al. 2016)
The early screening and compulsion of uniform new born screening and diagnosis with the help of improvised technologies and endorsement led to the decrease in mortality and morbidity of neural tube defects. The implementation of the early screening strategy led to the prevention of nearly 3,000 additional infant mortalities due to neural tube defects. These screening modalities also led to the selection of genetic and endocrine disorders. As per the 2003 survey, only 4 states in the US were involved in the screening of neural tube and similar genetic disorders. However, the US governance back then led to the widespread of screening modalities that covered all states and screening 26 of such disorders. One of the most significant improvements was the hearing loss screening that was improved from 46% to 97% from 1999 to 2008 in all US states. There was significant impact on the screening and diagnostic modality of infant hearing loss which improved since 1999 until 2008 with an improvement from 51% to 68% in early screening of infants less than 3 months with either normal or permanent hearing loss. The improvement in the healthcare system with priority of early screening and diagnosis led to reduced mortality and morbidity of woman and child health in the US with a significant impact on patient quality of life (Dickson, KE, et al. 2015).
Do you believe that there is too much or too little redundancy in our health care delivery system? Where does most of the redundancy occur? Where should we have more redundancy (second opinions)?
The healthcare system has been overwhelmed with technology and advanced computer-based platforms in the past 2 decades. However, it has been observed by many researchers that the dependency on technology for all major activities within the healthcare system has led to too much redundancy. The healthcare system is interlinked with the computer-based and IT driven platforms that have a risk of a sudden malfunction. However, most healthcare systems adopt and prefer the IT driven platforms for their infrastructure in order to fasten and improvise the process of healthcare delivery (Akachi, Y., et al. 2016)
The most rate of redundancy is observed in hospitals and healthcare centres involved in out-patient care. Most of these centres/hospitals are equipped with latest IT driven infrastructure to control, monitor, and provide efficient delivery of care to patients. Most nurses and healthcare staff prefer computer-based automated system over paper-based equipment. However, the downfall of the IT-based system is the malfunction and system corruption that provides a threat to patient sensitive info and also brings down the entire healthcare delivery system down to a halt. Unlike conventional systems, IT based systems are difficult to resolve and require experienced professionals from the IT industry. The time and cost associated with such malfunction or failure often leads to patient dissatisfaction and lowers the confidence levels of most healthcare staff. The hospital/clinic based IT based platforms although may seem to be beneficial may have significant risks and threats to the quality of delivery care and robustness of the entire healthcare system. Most healthcare based organizations such as pharmaceuticals and contract research organizations may also suffer from redundancy due to computer-based platform issues. (Marjoua, Y., & Bozic, K. J. 2012).
How would you define quality of care from the provider and patient perspectives?
Quality care is the backbone of the healthcare system. It is considered as one of the essentials by healthcare and nursing professionals. Most nursing and healthcare personnel develop a sense of responsibility to inculcate the nature of caregiving and patient quality of care. However, based on a few research studies, the perspective of quality care is perceived differently by patients and healthcare providers (Akachi, Y., et al. 2016)
The healthcare provider’s (HCPs) perspective to quality care is based on the type and quality of delivery in the overall system. The main objective of the healthcare provider is to enhance the quality of life of patients with respect to physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The provision of care is based on the healthcare setting and environment. For example, HCPs based in critical care units are aimed to relive pain, anxiety, and distress among patients. However, in the case of paediatric care, HCPs are aimed in helping children from distress and improve their quality of life. End of life care-based HCPs are involved in providing a holistic approach and act as mediator and supporters of family members. The role of the HCP is critical in enhancing the quality care but dependent on the environment or setting of the healthcare system. (Marjoua, Y., & Bozic, K. J. 2012).
The patient’s perspective to quality of care is varied depending on the healthcare setting. Patients seek for a comfortable, pain-free, and social environment in the healthcare system. However, one cannot expect such an environment at all times. However, the major role of the HCP is to make the patient comfortable which would directly impact the quality of care. Nurse professionals enhance the quality of care by keeping a track on the overall health of the patient and reporting the same to the concerned physician. HCPs also interact with patient and family members in a holistic approach to uplift quality of care. Both patient and HCP involvement is necessary in order to enhance the overall quality of care.
Why do you believe that quality can be viewed as a strength and a weakness of the U.S. health care system?
Quality of care is one of the key factors in patient satisfaction and healthcare system enhancement. The views on the role of quality of care are mixed in the US healthcare system. Quality care can be viewed as a major strength since it is closely associated with improved health outcomes, patient satisfaction, low health-related cost, reduced mortality and morbidity rate, low disease burden, and improved socioeconomic status. For example, quality of care is known to reduce the cost in the critical care unit by reducing the rate of infections and re-hospitalization. Quality of care is a form of prevention which helps in reducing mortality and morbidity associated with an infectious disease, thus reducing the cost of healthcare. The key strength of quality care among HCPs and patients is to improve the healthcare system in the US by reducing costs and improving quality of life. Quality care is also considered as a parameter in health legislations. Healthcare and quality of care may also have conflicting impacts which can be considered as a potential weakness in the US healthcare system (Venters, H. 2016).
Working with a licensed healthcare professional has several benefits in a hospital since he/she would be aware of patient-centric care and regulatory requirements. Licensed professionals are also capable of organizing and monitoring medical and scientifically relevant data within the healthcare system compared to a non-licensed professional. Managers working with licensed HCPs should understand and respect the scientific community, along with ethical guidelines and considerations. Managers and HCPs can work as team players to provide the best healthcare services across multi care specialities (Marjoua, Y., & Bozic, K. J. 2012).
References
Akachi, Y., Tarp, F., Kelley, E., Addison, T., & Kruk, M. E. (2016). Measuring quality-of-
care in the context of sustainable development goal 3: a call for papers. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 94(3), 160–160A.
Dickson, K. E., Kinney, M. V., Moxon, S. G., Ashton, J., Zaka, N., Simen-Kapeu, A.,
Lawn, J. E. (2015). Scaling up quality care for mothers and newborns around the time of birth: an overview of methods and analyses of intervention-specific bottlenecks and solutions. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 15(Suppl 2), S1.
Marjoua, Y., & Bozic, K. J. (2012). Brief history of quality movement in US healthcare.
Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine, 5(4), 265–273.
Venters, H. (2016). A Three-Dimensional Action Plan to Raise the Quality of Care of US
Correctional Health and Promote Alternatives to Incarceration . American Journal of Public Health, 106(4), 613–614.
