Quality Improvement In Healthcare

Quality improvement among the healthcare industry is needed on a continuous basis. Staying familiar with the different trends and changes in policies is imperative for all health care organizations. Prior to any quality improvement a review and analysis of the current process is needed to determine whether or not additional adjustments are necessary. Once the areas of concern are identified a course of action plan needs to be executed. Along with process improvement quality improvement is needed in regards to patient care as well. Offering health trackers online, nurse lines for medical advice after hours, or even the ability to schedule appointments via the web. Next, I will review organizations that have contributed to reviewing the quality in healthcare organizations.
The Joint Commission which was founded in 1951, is an agency that engages in healthcare accreditation and is well respected for its high-quality patient standards. This agency engages in the development of standards for quality and safety and evaluates performance
within health care organizations based on the set standards. Additionally, the agency strives to enhance the effect that performance measures have on improving health outcomes for patients.
The Joint Commission is tasked with assessing organizational compliance by way of unannounced survey that include direct data analysis after observations, and staff interviews (Briggs & Grossman, 2010). This agency accredits and certifies more than 18,000 healthcare organizations in the United States of America. It is one of the most notable agencies in the provision of quality health. In addition, it publishes quarterly reports that show performance on quality of healthcare measures. As part of its ongoing efforts to stress the essentiality of continuous improvement and accountability, the agency issues annual reports.
An organization that deals with monitoring quality is the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities as known as (CARF).
This agency is accredited in five continents. Having been established in 1966, CARF accredits in the areas of aging services, employment, child and youth services, and medical rehabilitation. CARF main concern is the people with disabilities. Their standards assist organizations measure and improve the quality of the services and programs as well as services that achieve optimal outcomes. Additionally, it assists organizations and providers in the improvement of its demonstrative value and services. In an effort aimed at promoting the quality of care, CARF creates standards which help to monitor their recovery, quality, services and business (Briggs & Grossman, 2010). There are surveyors who are peers trained in a particular field and have experience in in the services and programs that are
accredited.
In conclusion, people seek medical attention for the purpose of improving their health. With the assistance of systems like EMR and reducing staff responsibilities by implementing certain task to automated systems, any healthcare organization will become more effective. There are economic pressures which are experienced in the healthcare costs and its outcomes. These are intensifying the need for new approaches to improve health management. The importance of accreditation is that it helps in ensuring that patients receive appropriate and adequate health care according to nationally accepted standards and this goes a long way in demonstrating commitment to improving quality in healthcare.