Patient Satisfaction and Hospital Incentives
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey can provide decision-makers with information that will impact the amount of Hospital Value-Based Purchasing incentives awarded to medical institutions (McFarland, Ornstein & Holcombe, 2015, p. 503). Thus, the patient-satisfaction indicator is widely used for assessing the level of healthcare services hospitals offer. It often plays an integral role in a hospital’s efficiency outcomes and the quality of healthcare overall.
The dominant perspective on the customer satisfaction indicator is linked to the supposition that if the patient is satisfied, then the healthcare institution was able to provide services at the highest level possible. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is thought to be instrumental in providing useful insights into the reliability of a healthcare institution (AAAHC, 2015, p. 2). However, when it comes to making decisions about awarding hospitals with value-based purchasing incentives, a patient satisfaction survey may not be the most appropriate indicator. Some patients may not be satisfied with the hospital’s services because it lacks funding for purchasing necessary medical equipment. In this case, Value-Based Purchasing incentives should be granted to hospitals that indeed need them, rather than medical institutions that are fully equipped and completely satisfy their patients. Thus, the lack of value can be compensated by adding value to the hospitals rather than punishing them for the under-performance. Medical institutions that satisfy their patients according to the conducted HCAHPS surveys should not be overlooked by the incentives; however, the primary focus should be put on balancing health care services across all levels, not elevating those institutions that perform well at the same time with diminishing the significance of the institutions that underperform.
CJR’s Impact on the Nursing Practice
The new bundled payment for Medicare joint replacements model has encouraged health care providers to improve the coordination and the quality of their services across all levels: from the primary hospitalization to the recovery of the patient. Thus, professionals should come up with various methods of presenting the value that occupational therapy has for achieving complete success in the process of providing care (Bogenrief, 2016, p. 7).
While the new model of Medicare joint replacements will be beneficial in ensuring wide access to health care despite the needs of a beneficiary, it still requires an expansion of healthcare facilities’ revision because many healthcare providers are encouraged to implement financially beneficial services that are unnecessary in a clinical sense (Carter, Garrett & Wissoker, 2015, p. 10). Within the framework of updating the quality of the Medicare-provided services and new models, the largest impact concerning the nursing practice will be placed on additional training of skilled nursing professionals. Along with the Affordable Care Act, nursing practitioners will be able to become more skilled in order to cater to the demands of Medicare.
By means of providing additional training for the already professional personnel as well as by adding new employees into the system of occupational therapy practice and nursing, the Medicare-initiated bundled payment model will bring beneficial results. Since the CJR model requires for the hospitals to be held accountable for the quality and costs of healthcare provision by being put into a frame of a target price for the services, the availability of professional staff will, first of all, reduce the costs. Furthermore, the saved costs can go towards funding training and educational programs for nursing professionals.
Accountable Care and Interprofessional Practice
The changes in the Accountable Care model call for improvements in the sphere of interprofessional practice. Interprofessional practice means collaboration between two or more professionals in order to improve the outcomes of health care. Since the primary focus for health care organizations will always be put on reducing costs and improving the quality of their care, including preventative services, encouraging the collaboration among physicians, hospitals, health care agencies and other institutions will be crucial for maintaining the quality of health care as well as reducing costs. For instance, an Accountable Care Organization that takes participation in Medicare usually creates an array of provider networks that cooperate together in order to make sure that the beneficiaries of Medicare receive the highest quality of services. In the majority of cases, there is a range of available financial incentives available for accountable care organizations that are able to now avoid duplicate services, readmissions, or preventable complications. Such financial incentives usually take the form of shared savings and various bonuses (Nester, 2016, p. 128).
However, it is worth mentioning that physicians are rarely able to offer both educational and clinical services for an improved care model. Thus, a health care facility should develop a new system that benefits cooperation between interprofessional teams and their patients. An interprofessional team is made up of nurses, physicians, health navigators, pharmacists, community health workers, social workers, and other professionals involved in the process of providing high-quality health care services. Lastly, in order to recruit professionals that will work as a part of an interprofessional team, organizations should ensure the provision of immaculate clinical experiences at educational facilities (Nester, 2016, p. 131).
References
AAAHC. (2015). The Importance of Patient Satisfaction. Web.
Bogenrief, J. (2016). Bundled Payment for Medicare Joint Replacements Starts April 1. OT Capital Briefing, 7.
Carter, C., Garrett, B., & Wissoker, D. (2015). The Need to Reform Medicare’s Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities is as Strong as Ever. Web.
McFarland, D., Ornstein, K., & Holcombe, R. (2015). Demographic Factors and Hospital Size Predict Patient Satisfaction Variance – Implications for Hospital Value-Based Purchasing. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 10(8), 503-509.
Nester, J. (2016). The Importance of Interprofessional Practice and Education in the Era of Accountable Care. NCMJ, 77(2), 128-132.