Performance and Improvement of Healthcare Organizations

Performance and Improvement of Healthcare Organizations

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Introduction

Performance improvement is an important aspect that Health care organizations work tirelessly to improve. Internal and external stakeholders have to realize the performance levels of the organizations. Specific initiatives, accreditation standards, and laws have to be employed in a bid to improve the overall health standards of the healthcare organizations in a bid to ensure that performance is enhanced (Lighter, 2011). Accreditation is meant to create a healthy culture for healthcare so that basic healthcare services can be availed to patients from all social classes. The process of ensuring that all patients can access palliative health services, as well as curative, preventive and rehabilitative services. The exhibition of these aspects in healthcare service delivery reflects the high level of quality service and improved organizational performance in addressing patient’s needs (Kelly, 2011). Improving organizational communication for both internal and external stakeholders acts as motivation and change initiation tool towards promoting organizational performance. The ability to set up an effective communication strategy means that internal stakeholders can understand the objectives of the organization, while external stakeholders get quality healthcare services (Singh, 2014).

The article, therefore, looks at describing and analyzing specific laws and legal aspects about accreditation enhance organizational performance in healthcare service delivery. It will also evaluate how an effective communication strategy can be used to achieve an efficient service delivery system that will promote overall health care and organizational performance (Lighter, 2011).

Accreditation is an important evaluation strategy for the improvement of organizational performance and a roadmap to quality delivery of healthcare services. The process of setting up standards that the government considers to be optimal, quality and achievable so that the overall organizational standards can be improved is what is referred to as accreditation. In most countries, accreditation is a program that is spate from the Ministry of Health operated by a quasi-regulatory government or a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) (Kelly, 2011).

The accreditation program on health care givers requires legal structures and scope to be established through legislation process. Accreditation helps in promoting reliability, the objectivity of operational standards, and their measurement to gauge performance. It creates a sound environment for business performance and seeing to it that patient’s safety, and quality service provision is achieved (Singh, 2014). In healthcare provision, errors and failures in service delivery cannot be afforded. As a result, accreditation, setting up of operational laws, and better initiatives would lead to quality services and improved performance.

The first step would be to ensure training programs for healthcare providers under competent supervision when dealing with patients. This will enable mitigation of errors when providing their services. The first strategy is to use continuous quality improvement interchangeably with total quality management (TQM) (Lighter, 2011). Checking of hospital documentation and analyzing it has led to better performance. The safeguarding of organizational finances ensures that better spending of money for buying of relevant equipment and paying nurses and doctors among other employees in the sector (Bell & Smith, 2011).

The creation of incentive also leads to better employee performance through impacting motivation to nurses and doctors among other stakeholders. The incentives may be monetary or non-monetary, for example, the use of Pay-for-performance system (p4p). The model ensures that not only is quality on how the health care services are being delivered, but also improving efficiency and mitigation of avoidable costs (Singh, 2014). Rewarding employees for their performance makes employees yield results, while external stakeholders enjoy the benefits of the hard work.

Organizational performance is also guided by ethical laws and criteria while handling patients. Treating employees better and ensuring that they also treat patients ethically without any discrimination or exploitation encourages better healthcare giving and coordination. When it comes to communication strategies, quality reporting enhances coordination between hospital departments, management, employees, and patients (Bell & Smith, 2011). Departmental coordination means that all patients get the desired service and monitoring that should be accosted them.

The aim of communication strategy is to increase physician-patient engagement and building of trust. This translates to a shared sense of responsibility towards the welfare and improvement of the patient’s health. Sending the right message to the right person in the right way is what communication in the health sector involves. It is a platform to enhance coordination in a bid to save human life. Sometimes difficult patient encounters affect the morale of the health care provider, however, through proper communication channel patient-centered care is given and patient-satisfaction is achieved.

The ability to use such aspects as compassion, friendliness, empathy, attentiveness and careful listening are all part of an effective communication strategy that is meant to create a patient engagement environment. Dealing with patients of different cultures also requires understanding them. Diversity is a non-avoidable aspect that must be promoted positively when giving service to patients. One of the strategies that promote patient-physician engagement and consequently is through better communication strategies (Bell & Smith, 2011).

The first communication strategy is to solicit psychological aspects that affect patients. This is done by creating a forum whereby patients are encouraged to talk about issues that face them. Secondly, communication has to be tailored to customer’s culture. This involves developing a culture for healthcare providers to familiarize themselves with the culture of their patients (Gottwald & Lansdown, 2014). Thirdly, educating patients on best caregiving practices to clarify their expectations and enabling them to appreciate the efforts that health care providers offer them forms an excellent communication platform.

Also, internal and external stakeholders have to be updated on the individual and departmental performance of the healthcare organization. Errors, challenges, and progress data have to be presented to the management for evaluation; setting out clear goals and objectives that they expect to be followed by subordinates. Organizational performance is all about leading by example by keeping the entire taskforce offering the services effectively. Provision of online information to both patients and employees on organizational performance and progress will help them relate better to the organization leading to loyalty and satisfaction for excellent work done (Gottwald & Lansdown, 2014).

Communication strategies help in the identification of employee’s attitude as well as creating behaviour that fosters the zeal to work for the welfare of patients. This translates to more patients being treated in an ethical manner that creates a better reputation for the organization reflecting improved performance and quality of services. In case of an emergency, communication has to be effected in such a manner that response to patient’s distress is enhanced and quick action taken to serve them (Lighter, 2011).

Plan for Strategic Messaging in Communications

The first thing to ensure an effective messaging platform is to ensure that the right target audience is realized. In this case, patients, nurses, doctors and other physicians form the main team. Identifying the right channel to use for a certain type of message is important, for example, if one is communicating on the loss of a patient to relatives, a face to face message would be more ethical as compared to a phone call. Keeping all departments updated on various issues is also important, and the most compelling message that can boost organizational performance is encouraged (Gottwald & Lansdown, 2014).

Setting up of an effective duty schedule for employees and a good complaint or suggestion box for both patients and employees is required. This will enable the management to be on the knowhow on the issues affecting both the patients and employees from anonymous tips. Also, holding frequent meetings with employees to discuss performance and quality of services will be vital to the achievement of an effective communication platform (Oklahoma Health Care Authority.; Morpace Market Research & Consulting, 2013). The creation of direct engagement with patients on issues affecting them will also be a part of the strategy to know where to improve performance through error correction.

When it comes to marketing the organization based on performance, the creation of a brochure or online adverts that will reach all patients on the level of quality services and performance offered to patients will sensitize external stakeholders. Internal communications will involve a face to face communication and the use of memos. However, adverts and setting up of medical sensitization awareness programs will be more effective in reaching to the public. The importance of communication to the public is to create public confidence with the system put in place an its leaders.

References

Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2011). Management communication. New Delhi: Willey India.

Kelly, D. L. (2011). Applying quality management in healthcare: A systems approach. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.

Gottwald, M., & Lansdown, G. (2014). Clinical Governance: Improving The Quality Of Healthcare For Patients And Service Users. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education.

Lighter, D. E. (2011). Advanced performance improvement in health care: Principles and methods. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Oklahoma Health Care Authority.; Morpace Market Research & Consulting. (2013). 2013 CAHPS child medicaid with CCC member satisfaction survey : Oklahoma Health Care Authority members covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). Oklahoma Health Care Authority.

Singh, S. D. (2014). Communication management. New Delhi: Anmol Publications.