Quality Management and Performance Improvement: A brief and concise summary of the health care quality challenges as discussed by the authors.
“Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century,” is a report primed in the year 2001. It was prepared by a team of professionals drawn from various professions within the health care sector. The team of professionals comprised of clinical officers, hospital administrators, managers, doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and surgeons to mention but a few. The main objective of this task force was to evaluate and analyse the state of health care in the United States. These researchers were supposed to identify the various challenges which were being experienced in the health care sector.
In order to achieve this objective, they were supposed to scrutinize every aspect of the health care sector. They were required to analyse the manner in which health care services were being rendered in the United States. By so doing, they would be able to identify the areas that needed improvements. They were also supposed to analyse the health status of the people living in the United States. This is because the analysis would give them a reflection of the nature of the health care system in the country. The health status of people living within a country serves as a reflection of the quality of health care services that are being rendered within that country. In addition to that, it enables an individual to gain perspective of the accessibility of health care within a country.
This team of researchers was also supposed to evaluate and analyse the manner in which work was being carried out in the health care sector of the United States. They were supposed to do so in order to identify the areas that required reforms. This is because they wanted to challenge both the private sector and government, to take an active role in improving the quality of services that are being rendered within the health sector. After so doing, they were supposed to propose ways through which the health care sector can be reformed. This is because reforms are the only way through which the health care sector could experience the kind of transformation that was desired. Transformations in the health care sector would facilitate the enhancement of the quality of services being rendered within the sector.
Over and above that, evaluating the health care sector of the United States enabled this team of researchers to identify the quality gap that is prevailing within this sector. It also enabled them to identify some of the potential reasons that were causing the prevailing quality gap. It is only after understanding the underlying factors that this team of researchers developed ways of improving the health care sector in the twenty first century. They started improving the health care sector by developing six aims of improvement. In addition to that, they developed a vision of the type of health care system that was most suitable for the United States in the future. These two developments served as targets during the transformation of the health care sector. They also enabled the reformers and analysts within the health care sector to be able to monitor their progress. They also formulated new rules to improving and redesign the health care system in America. These rules were simple and they were geared towards transforming the health care system in the twenty first century. The researchers found it necessary to develop these rules because they were of the opinion that health care organizations are complex in nature. The ten simple rules were supposed to guide these complex health care organizations into being able to adapt to the transformations that will be taking place.
The researchers then proposed ways through stakeholders within the health care sector will take their first steps towards transformation. They achieved this objective by discussing some of the benefits of organizing around priority conditions. They also discussed ways of applying priority conditions. “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century,” highlights the standard for identifying priority conditions. The committee appreciates that organization within the health care sector like all the other organizations that are in the process of transformation need organizational support. In light of this, the report discusses some of the main challenges that an organization is most likely to experience when it embarks on this process of transformation. The report also discusses some of the stages of organizational advancement, as well as the nature of leadership that is required for managing change.
The committee also notes that, in order for the desired changes to be achieved, health care organizations need to take advantage of information technology. This is because the use of information technology within the health care sector would improve the quality of services being rendered within this sector. The report discusses the necessity for a national health information infrastructure. It also discussed the need and benefits of an automated clinic. The committee also scrutinized the payment systems that were being used within the healthcare sector. They assessed the incentives of the present payment systems in order to be able to develop policies that were capable of aligning the payment systems with quality improvements. They assessed whether it was possible for the payment systems to be designed in a manner that would make them adaptive quality improvements. They also assessed the magnitude of the prevailing hurdles to quality improvements in the current payment systems. In the report, the committee discusses whether there is a need for a new approach.
Conclusions on the state of healthcare today, as compared to that of 2001, and existing similarities
In the year 2001, most of the health care organizations had not embraced information technology. As a result of this, the health care sector was characterized by a lot of inefficiencies. This inefficiency was extremely expensive to the United States. This is because they prevented the country from having a healthy population. ‘Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century’, discussed the various benefits that can be realized within the health care sector, upon the introduction of information technology. Over the years, most of the health care organizations within the United States use information technologies.
As a result of this, the quality of services being rendered by health care institutions has improved tremendously. For instance, the use of information technology within the health care sector has facilitated the development of an information technology system for the health care sector. This system is commonly referred to as the health information technology. The development of this system has brought about numerous benefits to the health care sector. One of the main benefits that has been realised due to the development of this system is the increase in the level of accuracy within the health care sector. This is because the health information system enables hospitals to store patient information within their databases. By so doing, doctors can be able to examine the history of the patient in the course of treatment. This increases the probability that doctors will provide a correct diagnosis of the patients’ conditions. This has significantly reduced the amount of medical errors, which were being made in the past.
Another benefit that has been brought about by this system is the reduction in paperwork. The health information system has enabled health care organizations to reduce the general level of paperwork. This is because of the work is carried out through the use of computers. All of the patients’ information is normally entered and stored in the computer. The health information system has also managed to reduce the overall level of administrative inefficiencies. This information system facilitates the administrative staff to be able to detect any inefficiency that might be present within the system.
‘Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century’, facilitated the improvement of the general health of the country. This is because the report facilitated the development of payment systems that sought to improve the quality of health care services within the country. The development of new payment systems has enabled hospitals to reduce the number of leakages that were present within their payment systems. As a result of this, the health care organizations have realized a significant increase in revenues. This increase in revenues has enabled health care facilities to expand and growth thus enhancing the accessibility of health care within the country. The increase in revenues has also facilitated the acquisition of state of the art equipment for the health care facilities. The acquisition of this equipment has facilitated the improvement of the quality of services being rendered by health care institutions.
On the other hand, the quality of health care services is still poor despite all the recommendations contained in “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century.” This is because, since the year 2001, there has been a significant rise in the number of outbreaks that have been experienced within the United States. Most of these outbreaks are attributable to the poor quality of services being rendered in health care institutions. For instance, one of the major causes of these outbreaks was the implementation of unsafe injection practices. This brought about the increase in the number of persons who are suffering from diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis. However, it is worth noting that the government has been making efforts that are geared towards reducing the incidence of such cases. For instance, the government passed a policy that requires all medical practitioners to use different syringes whenever they are treating more than one patient.
In an era of technology, medical research, and evidenced based practises why is the delivery of health care lack in consistency? In other words if you elevate the care given in different organisations why are the outcomes so different?
The lack of consistency in the delivery of health care practices is attributable to a wide range of factors. One of the main factors that have brought about these inconsistencies is the cost of information technology equipment. The types of information technology equipment that are being used in the health care sector are relatively expensive. As a result of this, most of the hospitals within the country cannot be able to procure them. This leads to a situation whereby some health care facilities are better equipped than others. This is because health care facilities that are well equipped tend to provide higher quality services than those which are not well equipped. This is partly because they can be able to treat a lot more conditions than ill equipped health care facilities. In addition to that, health care facilities, which are well equipped, tend to be accurate when it comes to the examination of a patient. This is because they used both human expertise and information technology when examining a patient.
Another factor that has brought about the level of consistency when it comes to the delivery of health care practices is the cost of medical products. Most of the medical products within the United States are relatively expensive. As a result of this, most of the patients cannot be able to afford them. This situation forces health care practitioners to use generic drugs while treating their patients. Generic drugs are normally not as effective as the original drugs and sometimes they result in negative side effects. The use of generic drugs within a health care facility lowers the quality of Medicare being provided by such a facility.
In addition to that, information technology systems are designed in a manner that they are operated by human beings. It is well known that information technology equipment rarely make errors. However, they are operated by human beings who naturally make errors. As a result of this, the quality of health care provided depends on the proficiency of the medical practitioners when it comes to the use of information technologies. This is because a health care facility, which has members of staff who are experts in using of information technologies, is likely to offer high quality services. In order to reduce the level of human errors when it comes to the use of health information technologies, health care facilities need to develop training programs for their members of staff. By so doing, health care facilities will be able to reduce the level of inconsistencies in the delivery of health care.
Over and above that, the lack of consistency in the delivery of health care can also be attributable to the cost of staffing. In the recent years, the cost of higher education has significantly increased. This has led to a situation whereby many students are not able to pursue tertiary education. Consequently, there has been a shortage in the number of qualified health professionals despite the rise in their demand. In addition to that, the health care professionals who are graduating from tertiary institutions are demanding relatively high salaries. This is because most of them finance their tertiary education through the use of loans. These loans normally accumulate interest thus they need to be paid as soon as possible. This makes health care professionals demand relatively high salaries in order to be able to service their loan as well as led decent life. The prevalence of this condition limits the number of health care facilities which can be able to access high quality professionals hence leading to inconsistencies when it comes to the delivery of health care.
Choose one of the six aims. Describe what you observe in the health care today specific to that aim. What strategy and actions, as a health care quality professional, would you take to make improvements to the aim you have chosen.
The health care sector needs massive improvements with respect to the sixth aim of the “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century,” report which is equitable. This report claims that a good health care system is one which renders high quality services which are consistent throughout the country. This is yet to be achieved. This is because there a still very many health care facilities which are not well equipped both in terms of their technical equipment, as well as personnel. This situation poses great challenges with respect to the provision of equitable health care across the United States.
In addition to that, there has been a significant rise in the overall cost of providing health care. Consequently, this has reduced accessibility of high quality health care services. This is because of the shortage of health care professionals, high cost of equipment, and high cost of medicine among others. Currently, the health care sector in the United States is dominated by private investors. As a result of this, most of the health care facilities are profit making institutions. This worsens the situation because most of these health care facilities are not affordable to most of the residents of the country. As a health care quality professional, I would advocate for the government to increase the amount of funds that it allocates to public health care facilities. This will enable these facilities to procure equipment, hire competent professionals, as well as expand their facilities. I would advocate for the government to construct additional hospitals in the states which do not have adequate hospitals. I would also champion for the government to subsidize medicine that is being used and prescribe in public health care facilities. This will go a long way to increasing the accessibility of health care services across the country.
Moreover, I would also design workshops that target officials working in the Ministry of Health, congressmen and congresswomen, and other government officials. This workshop will be for the purpose of educating and sensitizing the target audience on the importance of increasing the number of scholarships and bursaries. The government can also increase the number of scholarships and bursaries that are being offered to students who are pursuing or seeking to pursue educational programs that are geared towards health care professionals. This is because, by so doing, the government will be instrumental in reducing the cost of tertiary education for health care professionals. Consequently, this will increase the number of health care professionals who are not demanding extremely high salaries. An increase in such professionals will increase the number of health care facilities that are able to hire competent health care professionals. This will go a long way in improving accountability with respect to the provision of health care.
References
Committee on Quality of Health Care in America;. (2001). Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington D.C.: National Academic Press.
Jonas, S. (2003). An Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System: Fifth Edition. New York: Springer.
Schulte, M. F. (2013). Health Care Delivery in the U. S. A. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
Young, K. M., & Sultz, H. A. (2008). Health Care USA. New York: Jones & Barlett Learning.
