Ideal Clinical Microsystems, Essay Example

Introduction

Clinical microsystems demonstrate the importance of coordinated, high quality care and treatment for patients. These efforts require all members of the clinical team to be effective communicators and to use their knowledge and expertise wisely in the process. From this perspective, I have learned much about the clinical microsystem environment and have been able to better understand how different clinical teams must work together in order to accomplish the desired goals and objectives of a given system environment. In particular, understanding chronic illness is essential to the discovery of a clinical microsystem that meets the needs of a large group of patients.

Analysis

The achievement of a successful clinical microsystem environment requires an effective understanding of the issues that are most important to achieve high quality patient care and treatment outcomes (Nelson et.al, 2011). Chronic illness is a challenge to many clinicians because of the lengthy and often unpredictable wave of symptoms that occur. Therefore, patients must be treated accordingly in a collaborative clinical microsystem environment (Dartmouth College, 2005). These factors play a role in supporting an environment that embraces change and progress to meet the ever-increasing demands of chronic illness in the modern era (Dartmouth College, 2005). These concerns also support the continued growth and development of new approaches to care and treatment that will have a positive impact on outcomes and reflect new patterns of care coordination and effort that will promote long-term success with the clinical microsystem that is in place (ASHP Foundation). These efforts are likely to produce favorable results for many patients using underlying theoretical principles to engage members to meet the expectations of the system at all levels (ASHP Foundation). Establishing a successful model for chronic care requires an understanding of its many components and the ability to be effective in supporting a viable framework for growth and change (Coleman et.al, 2009).

Conclusion

This experience has been enlightening and engaging on many levels and has provided me with new insights regarding the complexities of clinical environments. I have also developed a new-found respect for clinical environments and the number of people that are required to lead a successful effort in this area. Chronic illness is such a critical area of healthcare practice in the modern era; therefore, it is important to identify the resources that are required to ensure that patient care outcomes are achieved in the desired manner. I believe that my organization in this project was challenging at first because I was unsure of the scope and magnitude of a clinical microsystem at this stage. However, I quickly realized that this type of system is significantly large and challenging on many levels, thereby requiring my dedication, knowledge, and expertise in conducting research in order to develop a model that would be conducive to chronic illness and care. I believe that what I came up with is an accurate representation of a clinical microsystem for chronic care, given the limited knowledge that I have regarding this complex system to date. I also believe that if I were able to acquire additional knowledge, I would achieve even greater success in this platform and be able to actively contribute to the knowledge that is already learned regarding clinical microsystems. This experience has been positive on many levels and have given me renewed strength and hope that I am pursuing the field that I am meant to be in, given my strong interest in the material and my ability to decipher some of the knowledge that is required to achieve effective results. This is an important step towards my own path of self-discovery as a student learner seeking to obtain the best possible opportunities to facilitate my own continued growth and development.

References

ASHP Foundation. Transforming health care. Retrieved from http://www.ashpfoundation.org/lean/CMS_print.html

Coleman, K., Austin, B.T., Brach, C., & Wagner, E.H. (2009). Evidence on the chronic care model in the new millennium. Health Affairs, 28(1), 75-85.

Dartmouth College (2005). Clinical microsystems: “the place where patients, families, and clinical teams meet.” Retrieved from http://hsc.unm.edu/community/toolkit/docs/greenbook.pdf

Nelson, E.B., Bataladen, P.B., Godfrey, M.M., & Lazar, J.S. (2011). Value by design: developing clinical microsystems to achieve organizational excellence. Jossey-Bass.