Introduction
For many years, health care sector has remained a very important aspect of a nation’s economy, creating the need for a well managed system and quality services. This can be attributed to its role in ensuring good health and overall welfare for the population. The sector has continued to experience rapid growth with the government making substantial investments to have the quality of health care services improved. While these efforts continue to be witnessed across the board, the most important question to be addressed is the need for improved quality of health care services. The quality of health care services that is offered is of great importance as it determines whether the goals of good practice of medicine are achieved. Not offering health care services which are of good quality will imply that the medical care fraternity would have effectively failed to execute their core duty. Adopting modern scientific management techniques and ensuring that only those qualified to work in the medical field are allowed to work will help to improve quality of medical care services.
Quality
Quality in offering of medical care services is a very significant issue. Quality medical care can be viewed from various points of view within a given context, thus giving it a myriad of definitions from scholars, researchers and authors. Nevertheless, many agree that quality medication revolves around consumer satisfaction derived from offered services. It can therefore be defined as the level to which the services offered to the population enhances the realization of desired outcomes among consumers (Oermann & Templin, 2000).
Why the Issue is Important
Quality in the context of medical care services is a very significant issue. According to Jacobs and Rapoport (2004), the ability of medical care services to improve the health of any given population is considered the main characteristic of quality health care. Quality in health care services determines the effectiveness of the services given. If the quality of medical care services is comprised, then the goals of health care services become irrelevant. Quality is the fabric that holds health care services together. Health care services without quality are not worth seeking as they will not benefit the patients in any manner but instead they have the potential to jeopardize their lives. It is also worth noting that quality of medical care services given determines the demand for the services. High quality services will trigger demand from the patients.
Impact on Health Care
Quality, as pointed out above, is the fabric that holds together the integrity of all the medical practitioners. Quality determines the level of demand for medical care services. High quality of medical care services given will lead to higher demand for services but low quality of medical care services given will not elicit any demand. Compromising on the quality of services given may lead to making some established medical procedures being ineffective and this may lead to expensive lawsuits.
What Happens if Nothing is Done?
If nothing is done to ensure that the quality of medical care services is consistently upgraded, the whole range of the medical fraternity would be slipping on a downward slope away from achieving the chief objective of the good practice of medicine which is caring for people.
Future Ramifications
There is a need to take measures to ensure that the quality of medical care services is not compromised in future. Two of the areas which may lead to compromising the quality of medical care services are: qualification of medical care providers and the process of medical care.
Qualification of Medical Care Providers
The qualification of medical service providers is considered to be a major player in determining quality of medical care services provided. Qualified clinicians ensure that the services rendered are efficient and effective in meeting the expected outcomes of the patient (Jacobs & Rapoport, 2004). Skilled practitioners guarantee safety of all the medical procedures taken to prevent medical errors that have cost the lives of many people in the US.
The Process of Medical Care
The second attribute which determines quality of medical products is the entire process of medical care. According to Jacobs and Rapoport (2004), this encompasses a number of parameters which define the thoroughness of services being offered by medical institutions. Similarly, the process of medical care ensures that the life of a patient is not put to risk through malpractices (Santerre & Neun, 2009). This attribute is mainly concerned with accuracy of all processes and the ability of patients to have their health restored among others (Oermann & Templin, 2000). It suffices to say that the higher the quality of medical care, the higher the demand for the products.
Possible Solutions
Solution I
Based on the need for quality medical care, efforts must be put in place to ensure that the staff working in healthcare sector especially in hospitals has the right qualification. All activities whether it is the preparing of patients’ medical records or diagnosis should be executed by people with the right qualifications. In this manner medical errors are likely to be highly reduced and thus quality of health care is increased.
Solution II
To improve medical care processes and thus make the whole process of medication satisfying, there is a need adopt more scientific management techniques, for instance, there is a need to completely do away with paper work recording systems and instead adopt electronic data management.
Conclusion
Generally, quality is an essential requirement of medical care services in several ways. It guarantees restoration of health through safety and efficient processes. Qualification of medical is important in ensuring that medical errors are avoided. Modern management techniques such as electronic data management ought to be adopted. The relationship of quality and demand for medical is also important. Low quality undermines the demand and vice versa. Future policies are necessary to ensure maintenance and improving of medical quality standards.
References
Jacobs, P., & Rapoport, J. (2004). The economics of health and medical care (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Oermann, M. H., & Templin, T. (2000). Important attributes of quality health care: consumer perspectives. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 32(2), 167-72.
Santerre, R. E., & Neun, S. P. (2009). Health Economics: Theories, Insights, and Industry Studies (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cengage Learning.