There are scientific ways to measure health care quality. These tools, called measures, have mostly been used by health professionals. They use measures to check up on the improved quality of care they provide

University Degree Subjects allied to Medicine

UNIT 5

INDIVIDUAL PROJECT 2

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

KIMBERLY M. TOWNSEND

APRIL 23, 2005

Quality healthcare means doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right person- and having the best possible results. Although we would like to think that every health plan, doctor, hospital, and other provider gives high-quality care, this is not always so. Quality varies, for many reasons. Healthcare quality varies in this country-a lot. For example, some health plans and doctors simply do a better job than others of helping you stay healthy and getting you better if you are ill. Research shows that Americans want and value quality health care. And that’s a good thing. Because when you make health care choices that offer the best possible care, you are most likely to get the best possible results. So when it comes to making major health care decisions-about health plans, doctors, treatments, hospitals, and long term care-how can you tell which choices offer quality health care, and which do not?

There are scientific ways to measure health care quality. These tools, called measures, have mostly been used by health professionals. They use measures to check up on the improved quality of care they provide. There are two main types of quality measures that can help you choose quality health care: consumer ratings and clinical performance measures. Consumer ratings look at healthcare from the consumer’s point of view. Clinical performance measures look at how well a healthcare organization prevents and treats illness. Quality matters. It can be measured, and it can be improved. Take part in every decision about your health. ...

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Measurement of patient satisfaction stands poised to play an increasingly important role in the growing push toward accountability among health care providers. Overshadowed by measures of clinical processes and outcomes in the quality of care equation, patient satisfaction measurement has traditionally been relegated to service improvement efforts by hospitals and larger physician practices, and to fulfilling accreditation requirements of health plans, while some plans tie satisfaction scores to financial incentives as a portion of their calculation of payment bonus to primary care physicians with capitation contracts. Variations in measurement tools, however, is an obstacle to making patient satisfaction a reliable part of the quality equations. Data on patient satisfaction is currently collected by various entities, for different purposes and at different levels in the health care system-including health plans, hospitals and physicians practices. Even if redundancy and variation of patient satisfaction measurement can by minimized to permit meaningful comparisons across providers, questions remain as to how patient satisfaction surveys can be modified to fulfill an expanded role of quality of care measurement, whether it is even appropriate to consider patient satisfaction as a valid clinical quality indicator, what weight patient satisfaction should be given in the context of other quality of care measures, and what impact its expanded use will have on physicians’ practice and on malpractice liability (Guadagnino, 2003).

Ask questions, and make sure you understand the answers. The only “bad” question is the one you with you had asked.

References:

Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care. Retrieved on April 14, 2005 from

A Quick Look at Quality. Retrieved on April 14, 2005 from

Guadagnino, C.J. (2003). Role of patient satisfaction. Retrieved on April 18, 2005 from