Why Does It Important To Contain Quality In Health Care?
According to McGlynn, the IOM (Institute of Medicine), defined quality as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge” (as cited in Shi & Singh, 2015, p. 491). Notably, with the IOM definition of quality in health care, is possible to say that the patients are the main motivation, or reason, to maintain quality. With the constant necessity to maintain quality in health care and correct errors in the system, quality improvement programs are crucial for health care quality maintenance. Quality improvement programs in health care need to be constant, proactive, and preventive. As stated by the HRSA (Health Resources
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2). Prominently, a focus on patient safety has developed in the health care system, since patient safety is strictly linked to health care outcomes and quality improvement, and can affect several areas. A focus on safety has developed in the health care system for various reasons, and all of them contribute to the current regulations and standards. Medical errors not only can affect the patient health and quality of life, the consequences of medical errors go beyond negative health outcomes. As stated by Corrigan et al. (1999), “preventable medical errors have been estimated to result in total costs of between $17 billion and $29 billion per year in hospitals nationwide” (p. 1). Additionally, besides affecting the patient physical and psychological health and increasing health care delivery expenses, preventable medical errors can affect the patient economy and the society by no enabling the patient to fulfill the general obligations with society. Above all, patient safety not only affects the patient’s health and economy, it can, also, negatively affect the economy of …show more content…
A focus on patient safety, new regulations, and standards, can positively influence the quality of the care provided to the patients and have positive consequences for the whole system. For instance, if safety standards are fulfilled in institutions and facilities that provide health care services, the system’s quality will improve. Some examples of how a patient safety focus has improved the health care system are the national patient safety goals released yearly by The Joint Commission, some of the goals released in 2016 were: implementation of more strict patient identification measures, proper label of medicines, immediate delivery of important test results to the proper staff, and hand cleaning guidelines (The Joint Commission, 2016, p. 1). The patient safety goals, mentioned above, focus on current safety problems and how to improve patient safety. These safety goals decreased errors in patient identification, medical errors related to a wrong administration of medicines, contamination of patients by improper hand cleaning, and preventable negative health outcomes by late treatment. Remarkably, the achievement of The Joint Commission goals, positively impacted the quality of care delivered by the health care
2). Prominently, a focus on patient safety has developed in the health care system, since patient safety is strictly linked to health care outcomes and quality improvement, and can affect several areas. A focus on safety has developed in the health care system for various reasons, and all of them contribute to the current regulations and standards. Medical errors not only can affect the patient health and quality of life, the consequences of medical errors go beyond negative health outcomes. As stated by Corrigan et al. (1999), “preventable medical errors have been estimated to result in total costs of between $17 billion and $29 billion per year in hospitals nationwide” (p. 1). Additionally, besides affecting the patient physical and psychological health and increasing health care delivery expenses, preventable medical errors can affect the patient economy and the society by no enabling the patient to fulfill the general obligations with society. Above all, patient safety not only affects the patient’s health and economy, it can, also, negatively affect the economy of …show more content…
A focus on patient safety, new regulations, and standards, can positively influence the quality of the care provided to the patients and have positive consequences for the whole system. For instance, if safety standards are fulfilled in institutions and facilities that provide health care services, the system’s quality will improve. Some examples of how a patient safety focus has improved the health care system are the national patient safety goals released yearly by The Joint Commission, some of the goals released in 2016 were: implementation of more strict patient identification measures, proper label of medicines, immediate delivery of important test results to the proper staff, and hand cleaning guidelines (The Joint Commission, 2016, p. 1). The patient safety goals, mentioned above, focus on current safety problems and how to improve patient safety. These safety goals decreased errors in patient identification, medical errors related to a wrong administration of medicines, contamination of patients by improper hand cleaning, and preventable negative health outcomes by late treatment. Remarkably, the achievement of The Joint Commission goals, positively impacted the quality of care delivered by the health care