Managing the Patient’s Quality of Care in a Hospital Setting

Managing the Patient’s Quality of Care in a Hospital Setting

HSA-501: Health Management in Healthcare

Strayer University

Managing the Patient’s Quality of Care in a Hospital Setting

Abstract

Quality of care can be described by providing safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable health care to patients. It promotes doing what’s best for the right patient at the right time and in a manner that will produce the best results possible. Patient quality of care has been one of the biggest transitions within the healthcare industry. Healthcare professionals now understand the importance of quality over quantity, allowing them the time they need to provide all patients with the health care that they deserve and require. The outcome of the patient’s health care has become essential for independent physicians rather than the number of patients seen in a day. Quality of care also promotes affordability as many Americans are faced with financial hardships and cannot afford to get the best health care. By focusing on providing every patient with the health care services that they need this helps people who suffer from the illness every day but refuse to get treatment because they can’t afford it. Value-based care is an essential measure within any hospital or healthcare setting because it promotes good health outcomes and can reduce mortality rates (www.elationhealth.com).

Keywords: quality of care, affordability, safe, effective, patient-centered, efficient, timely

Classifying the Measurements of Patient Quality of Care

Hospitals are faced with several adversaries every day. Aside from the administrative and regulatory difficulties that staff members are faced with there is an even bigger focus on the quality of care given to the patients who visit the hospital for treatment. These challenges can be managed by assessing the outcome measures such as understanding the all-new initiatives, staying up to date on the most recent changes in healthcare, understanding definitions and nuances, taking a closer look into real-life examples, and aligning the essentials for a positive outcome (www.healthcatalyst.com).

When measuring the quality of care the Quadruple Aim of Healthcare is used to promote improvements in the patient healthcare experience, the overall health of the population, the reduction per capita cost of healthcare, and the reduction of staff burnouts. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement created the Triple Aim effect which is dedicated to outcomes and improvement. IHI defines measurement as a “critical part of testing and implementing changes. Measures tell a team whether the changes they are making actually lead to improvement.” Organizations that are moved by the Quadruple Aim measure find it important because it reveals areas where interventions can improve care, identify variations of care, produce evidence about interventions that work best for certain patients under certain circumstances, compare the effectiveness of various treatments and procedures (www.healthcatalyst.com).

The World Health Organization has a method to identify healthcare outcomes by measuring changes in the patients’ health care. Outcomes are measured by several different factors and reported to The LeapFrog Group- a national nonprofit group that assesses and reports U.S. hospital safety and quality performance. One of The Leapfrogs primary goals is to increase transparency among healthcare providers to reduce an estimated 440,000 yearly deaths from hospital errors, accidents, neglect and injuries (www.healthcatalyst.com).

Reasons Why Healthcare Measures Are Important to Patients

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) use outcome measures to determine a hospital’s overall quality; in 2018, CMS revealed how they measure hospitals overall star ratings. CMS groups outcome into seven categories; mortality, safety of care, readmissions, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and the efficient use of medical imaging.

As a patient, it is essential to find the hospital that will provide the best care when faced with illness. Reviews and ratings are important as they give patients insight into the type of care that they could potentially receive when choosing a hospital. When a patient suffers from a life-threatening illness they are less likely to choose the hospital with a high mortality rate as the goal is to get the best care available. In example, the Piedmont Healthcare evidence-based care standardization for people suffering from pneumonia has a 56.5 percent reduction rate in mortalities caused by pneumonia. Meaning, essentially a patient is more likely to put their care in the hands of a facility which is more knowledgeable about their illness with a higher success rate before taking a chance with a facility that has a higher death rate (www.healthcatalyst.com).

Safety of care is also important to a patient who is receiving emergency or inpatient care because it outcomes measure taken to avoid medical mistakes. When being admitted, patients do not want to worry about other potential infections or hazardous conditions while being treated. Skin breakdown is a condition that should be highly monitored and measured because patients who suffer from skin breakdowns while being treated are at a higher risk of infection. The patient’s scores also go up if they have diabetes because of poor circulation when deciding what hospital to choose the patient needs to feel safe when in the care of the hospital staff.

Readmissions, after being in the care of a hospital is also something to consider when choosing a hospital as it may be a sign of not receiving the proper treatment the first time. Being readmitted is a nuisance to the patient because they may have been potentially misdiagnosed or released too soon from the hospital’s care as it causes the patient even more pain and suffering physically, emotionally and financially. A hospital with too many readmissions runs the risk of losing potential new patients. Patients who suffer more severe medical conditions are likely to avoid a hospital with a high rate of readmissions.

Patient experience, the effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and the efficient use of medical imaging are all important factors for individuals when choosing a facility for themselves or loved ones. The patient experience should always be pleasant as the patient has suffered enough pain and the last thing they should have to worry about is being mistreated, not receiving the proper care to cure the illness or stop the pain promptly. Due to financial reasons patients also may want to refrain from hospitals that overly use medical imaging as this can be costly and unnecessary in some cases.

Designing a Successful Quality Improvement Plan

The key features needed to create a successful quality improvement plan for patients at the Sunlight Hospital is by implementing effective communication, coordination of care, prevention, and treatment of chronic diseases, reducing harm caused while receiving care and by creating a bond with the patient as well as their family members making them partners in their care (www.elationhealth.com). Research suggests that when there are strong positive relationships between the patient and care coordinator the patient has the potential to gain a better understanding of medical recommendations, self-manage chronic conditions, and adopt preventative health measures. Studies conducted in the past three decades prove that when a clinician can explain, listen and empathize that it can hurt biological and functional health outcomes as well as patient satisfaction and experience of care (www.healthcarecomm.org). Making communication a priority at the Sunlight Hospital will make patients feel more valued and cared for by medical staff helping the ratings to rise in the care department.

Implementing a program at the Sunlight Hospital that will focus on improving care, preventing diseases, and complications of the disease are necessary to gain the patient’s trust (www.tfah.org). Investing in preventing chronic diseases and programs that will help save lives, promotes a vibrant economy by utilizing a healthy workforce, improving quality of life while saving healthcare dollars will all work in favor of the hospital. This program will not only help the curability and survival rate of patients at Sunlight Hospital but will also have an impact on the population by preventing and curing spreadable diseases.

The Competitive Advantage for Sunlight Hospital

Making it a goal to focus primarily on the patient’s care will be beneficial to the success rate of the patient as well as the hospital. Applying pressure in value-based healthcare will increase will lead to an increase of patients seen at the facility and will naturally force other hospitals to devise a plan that will focus on value-based services. Hospitals for profit that fail to make the care of the community a priority will face a huge decline in patients being seen and in return a huge decline in profit. Sunlight Hospital has a good reputation for their appearance and comfortability however they lack in the area of making time to care for the patient. By focusing on the quality of care and dedicating staff members specifically to the patient to provide them with all of the support they may need while in the hospital and by following up with them during post-recovery will help to make Sunlight Hospital one of the best hospitals in the nation. Sunlight hospital’s goal is to be the complete package as each patient needs to know that they are the number one priority. The advantages of taking this approach are preventing more chronic illnesses, incorporating preventative measures, curing diseases that are being spread throughout communities and reducing the amount of stress put on the patient when going through detrimental times. A major competitive factor that Sunlight Hospital already holds is the atmosphere. The only complaint is the value of care, and by making the quality of care a priority, other hospitals will suffer if they fail to provide the same services or better to their patients.

As an Administrator of the Sunlight Hospital, the staff must understand the power of prevention. The United States of America spends more than any other nation as it relates to healthcare. Understanding and devising a plan for each patient is critical for the patient and the hospital. Reducing cost and providing quality care is a huge factor when running a successful hospital. Prevention is the key to providing quality care and making patients feel more satisfied with the level of care provided.

References

(2018, February 28). Clinical First Electronic Health Record: Elation Health. Retrieved from https://www.elationhealth.com/healthcare-innovation-policy-news-blog/quality-healthcare/

Hoffman, D., & Murtzlufft, J. (2018, November). Why Preventing Chronic Disease is Essential – Prevention Works. Retrieved from https://www.tfah.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/COMMS_WP_InvestinginCD2018F.pdf

Impact of Communication in Healthcare. Retrieved from https://healthcarecomm.org/about-us/impact-of-communication-in-healthcare/

(2019, June 7). The Top 7 Healthcare Outcomes Measures. Retrieved from https://www.healthcatalyst.com/insights/top-7-healthcare-outcome-measures