Discussion Chapter 8
Quality of care has always been a primary concern of institutions involved in healthcare. Studer (2014) in one of the chapters of The Healthcare Quality Book focuses on the issue of consistent quality delivery and its hardwiring. According to Porter (as cited in Studer, 2014, p. 193), quality is treated as “the cumulative impact of all that happens to a patient while in an organization’s care.” The notion of care quality comprises patient safety and satisfaction, appropriate conditions of care, and prevention of readmissions.
The creation of an accountable culture is necessary for the consistent provision of high-quality care. Although it is the task of healthcare leaders, improvements would not become sustainable without the conscious approach of every staff member. Also, it is crucial to align the organization, make employees know and fulfill their duties, provide effective leadership, introduce standardized procedures, and be open to innovations (Studer, 2014).
What is more, evidence-based leadership can be introduced as an approach to quality improvement. Among the objectives of evidence-based practices is the reduction of medication errors and the improvement of patient outcomes. Consequently, these interventions contribute to the increase in care quality.
On the one hand, the process of introduction of evidence-based leadership is long and demands substantial changes in a healthcare organization. On the other hand, its application reveals opportunities for achieving significant improvements. It is important to develop a plan of interventions that will manage different problems which frequently become obstacles for the provision of high-quality care. Moreover, it is necessary to assess the efficiency of activities to make the required corrections in the plan in case of necessity.
Discussion Chapter 10
Alignment cannot be created by itself. Pugh (2014) suggests a set of tools that can be applied to establish alignment. The choice of assessment tools depends on the needs of every organization. However, dashboards and scorecards are frequently used for measurement that can stimulate change.
The evaluation of achievements and appreciation of high performance are popular tools that can drive the increase in quality. Dashboards and scorecards are excessively used in many spheres including healthcare. For example, scorecards that investigate items such as patient mortality of readmissions’ rates are applied for different reports and the comparison of the healthcare quality as related to the previous years.
It is necessary to remember that assessment measures are not only used for reports. They are also essential for daily work, can be used to identify the existing problems, can become a basis for the development of interventions that can influence the organizational performance and many others. In the context of healthcare, scorecards can be created for measuring safety, efficiency, patient-centeredness, timeliness, effectiveness, and equity (Pugh, 2014).
On the whole, the creation of alignment is one of the categories of leadership functions together with creating direction and managing. It can be designed with different goals. Thus, some healthcare facilities consider patient satisfaction to be one of the primary concerns, and their activities are focused on this goal. The others can concentrate on the Improvement of patient outcomes and work in this direction. Finally, many organizations focus on the quality of healthcare. Nevertheless, despite the specific goals and objectives, there is a necessity to assess the efficiency of the planned interventions. Still, leaders should be aware of the pitfalls of over-measurement and do not overuse it.
References
Pugh, M.D. (2014). Dashboards and scorecards: Tools for creating alignment. In M.B. Joshi et al. (Eds.), The healthcare quality book: Vision, strategy, and tools (pp.194-207). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Studer, Q. (2014). The culture connection: Hardwiring consistent quality delivery. In M.B. Joshi et al. (Eds.), The healthcare quality book: Vision, strategy, and tools (pp.241-267). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.