Healthcare Quality Management Discussion
Healthcare Quality Management Discussion
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In health care, we provide a service. Hospitals, hospice and home health companies, skilled facilities all want you to use their service. They will advertise their quality of care and are always striving to be better with the constantly evolving health care system. I am a hospice case manager and my job is to provide end of life care to patients and support the families and the facilities where they reside. When I do my job well, and families and patients feel their needs are being met, we receive good scores. On the later side, when families or patients feel they did not receive good care, we receive bad scores. This is where reliability comes into play. People want good quality that is reliable (Spath 2018). These scores are listed for anyone looking for a reputable hospice service to assist in determining what service they will use.
W. Edwards Deming was always striving to provide quality. He viewed quality as a responsibility of everyone (Guru Guide, 2010). This is very truthful for health care. Patients need quality of care by all members of the team including the doctor, therapy, aides and even housekeeping. A common practice problem I come across is education with families. Frequently we have unlicensed staff at assisted living facilities give medical advice and assessments to hospice patient’s families. This can cause an issue because families can feel that they are getting conflicting opinions. Education is imperative to facility staff to always practice within their scope and allow hospice to educate the families on their loved ones decline towards end of life. Good communication is crucial from all members of our hospice team to ensure patients and families feel they are getting quality of care. This is indicative of what Deming stated that good quality comes from everyone.
QP staff (2010). Guru Guide: Six thought leaders who changed to quality world forever. Quality Progress 43 (11), 14-21.
Spath, P. (2018). Introduction to healthcare quality management (3rd ed). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Kendra Pauley
RE: Discussion – Week 1
Week 1 Initial Discussion Post:
To me, quality means doing things the best you can, doing things right the first time, having pride in what you do, and continually improving. According to the text, quality is attributed to a product or service (Spath, 2018). Quality is influenced by a person using a product or service, there is no one definition of quality, but there are common elements (Spath, 2018). Quality products or services meet or exceed expectations; expectations change, so we need to improve continually (Spath, 2018).
I am a nurse at a family practice office. We are continually striving to meet quality measures for healthcare to improve our patients’ health. I work in a small town that has few resources for patients. Getting patients to follow-up and do tests ordered was a problem that our facility noticed. To eliminate wasteful practices, our facility expanded by offering additional services. The facility added a lab, radiology services that offer ultrasounds, computerized tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, an infusion center, cancer center, and a specialty suite with cardiology, neurology, rheumatology, and general surgery services. Having services available in one location provides quality service to patients, so patients do not have to go to multiple facilities to have tests done or struggle to get to different places to get quality healthcare. The services offered at my facility allow patients to go to their doctor’s appointment, have labs, or radiology services done at one place and the same day.
Philip B. Crosby stated, “You as a manager have an obligation to demand continual quality improvement from your operation, whether you are in the accounting business or machine shop. You have an obligation to provide thoughtful and imaginative leadership. What you put out is what you get back” (Guru Guide, 2010). This applies to my definition of quality by always striving for improvement, doing things right the first time, and the best you can. Doing this will help improve patients experiences and satisfaction with the services they receive. When you put your best into your work or services, you will get back better satisfaction scores and comments from the patients receiving those services.
References
QP staff. (2010). Guru guide: Six thought leaders who changed the quality world forever.
Quality Progress, 43(11), 14–21.
Spath, P. (2018). Introduction to healthcare quality management (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: Health
Administration Press.