Quality Assessment for Health System, Essay Example

In today’s healthcare systems, quality must serve as a key facilitator of performance and progress in order to improve patient outcomes. This requires an effective understanding of the challenges that are involved in facilitating high levels of quality, and to promote consistency throughout the healthcare continuum. Therefore, conducting a routine healthcare quality assessment serves as a means of identifying various problems and facilitating viable solutions in an effort to improve organizational outcomes. By supporting quality-based initiatives, the organization in question will identify common concerns regarding quality, how to address and solve these concerns, establish priorities for future reference, and make important decisions that will impact growth and organizational development at all levels. These must serve as key facilitators for all health systems that support various quality improvement initiatives on a regular basis.

One of the key concepts to consider is that of quality improvement that is based upon knowledgeable choices regarding healthcare, as these concerns reflect an opportunity to explore decisions that may impact performance and quality over time (Eisenberg, 2001). By making responsible choices regarding quality in the healthcare environment, it is possible to explore how measures of quality might be useful across different areas, and how these measures may impact quality in terms of different departments and patient needs (Quality Assurance Project). By conducting a quality assessment within a healthcare system, it is necessary to promote quality assurance initiatives at all levels of the organization, which will encourage the business to take the steps that are necessary to ensure that all possible areas are protected from unnecessary risks or harm that could influence patient outcomes negatively (Quality Assurance Project).

Assessing the overall quality of healthcare requires organizational leaders to take steps to improve patient care through strategic means, which are representative of data analysis in an effort to promote effective patient responses to treatment (AHRQ, 2010). This process will ensure that all data that is collected is tested for its level of quality and accuracy, and that there are significant quality markers in place that will support the desired objectives and expectations in positive ways (AHRQ, 2010). All quality assessment tools for healthcare organizations require strong leadership capacity, in addition to various initiatives that are designed to improve organizational performance at all levels of patient care (HLQAT, 2010). These assessment tools must possess be measurable, must require various reporting requirements in order to promote positive results, and must also demonstrate that clinical staff members are effectively trained in the areas that are most important to improve patient well being on a regular basis (HLQAT, 2010). These efforts are of critical importance so that the healthcare organization maximizes its level of performance and quality at all times, and that all possible options are explored in order to determine how to best move forward to produce consistency in terms of quality management at all levels (HLQAT, 2010). These efforts are indicative of the challenges that are required for healthcare workers and leaders to consider so that patients are protected and supported by high levels of quality and performance, regardless of the issues that might be taking place in the healthcare facility or in the surrounding environment (HLQAT, 2010).

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (2010). CAHPS: surveys and tools to advance patient-centered care. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp

Eisenberg, J.M. (2001). Overview to the issue – health care quality assessment. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4149/is_3_36/ai_77577986/

Hospital Leadership and Quality Assessment Tool (HLQAT) (2010). Welcome to HLQAT.org. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://www.hlqat.org/web/hlqat/home;jsessionid=150ae64d9b535c837256ca4a7125

Quality Assurance Project. Methods and tools: measuring quality. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://www.qaproject.org/methods/resmeasure.html