Harris KhanIn a world where the evolution of technology is taking a tide’s turn, medical science is also experiencing countless advances. However, when it comes to quality improvements, the healthcare industry isn’t up to the mark.
Quality improvement mainly focuses on increasing effectiveness and safety. Because as we’re all aware, low-quality healthcare, in the long run, can cost not only money and time but also lives. So, redesigning healthcare systems requires indulgence in a few strategies that can create a profound change. While revolutionary medical advances improve quality patient outcomes, innovation in the background activities will serve as the primary drivers of healthcare advancement for the present and beyond.
So with that in mind, what strategies should healthcare organizations consider today to ensure patient success and quality operations? This article will look over a few of the most prevalent healthcare quality improvement strategies that aim to boost healthcare for the better.
1. The Usage of Smart Technology
Technological advancements have resulted in a new wave of innovative products to improve patient care and comfort. On the other hand, since the healthcare industry is continuously evolving, creating up-to-the-minute healthcare systems to provide exceptional care is also challenging. To deal with such intricacy and ensure an error-free system, healthcare facilities will need health systems engineering specialists to guarantee the effective delivery of care.
The systems and tools that leverage automation and connectivity can relieve some pressure on healthcare providers while putting customers back in control. When it comes to healthcare quality improvement, the industrywide trend indicates an increase in intelligent technology implementation. Innovative technology comes in a variety of forms to improve comfort, efficiency, and risk reduction. Smart beds that self-adjust to ensure proper support and pressure for each patient’s preferences and condition can be used in healthcare facilities across the country. Clinics can also start employing robots that can monitor a patient without the presence of a human provider. When appropriately incorporated, intelligent applications and devices will continue to increase in the healthcare industry.
2. Focusing on the Overall Patient Experience
According to research, patients’ expectations of care are influenced more by the overall experience than by the existing quality of medical care. People judge the entirety of their experience from the moment they walk in through the door to when they leave. If a person is displeased with their overall experience, the positives in clinical care may be overshadowed. So as an improvement strategy, health organizations must view healthcare as a series of experiences that build on each other rather than various functions operating in their facilities.
Furthermore, patients want to see their healthcare team communicate with one another, reducing confusion for them and their families. It is also critical to ensure open lines of communication with locum tenens providers. It will assist them in acclimating to a new environment more quickly while also supporting the permanent staff in providing continuous patient care.
3. One-On-One Training
Only when interventions analytics are implemented, outcomes improve. Many healthcare projects have failed because critical stakeholders did not know enough or had forgotten how to access analytics and reports related to quality improvement. The super users must be subject matter experts, those who understand the process well, on whom others can rely, and are, ideally, early adopters. That said, where possible, key champions and super users must offer one-on-one, 20-minute training sessions on the importance of analytics to those who are unaware.
This tactic has proven to be far more effective than group sessions for adoption and quality improvement. We aren’t suggesting that group training does not work well. Still, meeting with critical stakeholders one-on-one proves highly beneficial. It creates a safer environment to ask questions and builds trustworthy relationships. Most of which are not present in a group setting. It also demonstrates the importance of the project, especially if the organization doesn’t do a lot of one-on-one training.
4. Personalized Medication
Personalized medicine, tailored to each patient’s particular needs, genetic makeup, and way of life, will continue to be a significant necessity in healthcare. Moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach may result in fewer ineffective interventions and improved outcomes. For example, physicians have known for as long as they have been prescribing medications that no drug has the same effect on every patient. Nonetheless, for decades, the standard method of determining which drug would work was trial and error. That is where the field of pharmacogenomics comes along. Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genetic variations impact individual responses to medications.
Genetic tests for leading treatment decisions are becoming more widely available in a variety of medical settings. These tests allow patients to receive more effective drugs earlier in their treatment, with fewer adverse side effects, and in some cases, at a lower cost. A physician can now choose a treatment based on a patient’s genetic profile, reducing harmful side effects and ensuring quality improvement. It’s also less cost-effective when compared to a ‘trial-and-error’ approach to disease treatment.
5. Patient Engagement
Patients can be the most effective advocates for their health. Still, they must first be committed and taught to be assertive healthcare consumers. And this is not an easy process, but it is one that primary care providers are uniquely prepared to take on. Primary care physicians are more competent than medical professionals working in hospitals or specialist care centers to oversee the patient’s entire healthcare journey. To put it short, when it comes to the quality of patient care, primary care physicians are in a strong position.
They can serve as the critical element that holds all aspects of patient care together and facilitates the patient throughout the entire care continuum. However, patient engagement should not end with the patient. Primary care providers should think more holistically. They must identify better ways to encourage communication between physicians, families, insurance providers, fitness instructor or other care providers, and social workers throughout the patient’s healthcare journey. It will indeed act as a tremendous quality improvement strategy.
Conclusion
So, these are some strategies that lead to a significant change in the quality of healthcare. Improving the overall performance and quality in the healthcare environment can help providers with cost-effective, reliable, and sustained healthcare processes. And the strategies listed above are sufficient for enhancing patient outcomes and improving care delivery. Quality improvement in healthcare also means involving and engaging the patient. Healthcare organizations should also prioritize user experience and competent care to ensure confidence. It all starts with the healthcare service providers getting accustomed to the environment where quality improvement lies ahead rather than the process outcomes. So, from now on, let’s vow to put more time on quality improvement in the healthcare sector – everyone would be better off this way.
