Defining the Quality of Health Care - Essay Example

Introduction
The notion of quality has different meanings for health care organizations, consumers, medical practitioners, and regulatory agencies. Healthcare facilities also strive to enhance the quality of medical procedures.

Foundational Frameworks of QI
In issues to do with the provision of quality healthcare, foundational frameworks refer to the values that guide the assessment and enhancement of quality health care. W. Edwards Deming is an authority of the quality management movement. He came up with the cycle of improvement known as the ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act' (PDSA). Edwards created this cycle to assist organizations to plan protocols through which they can develop quality services in health care. Through PDSA, healthcare organizations will first identify areas that require improvements and then form plans to better develop these areas. In the ‘do’ phase, the plans are then tested; after which they analyze and interpret performance statistics in the ‘study’ phase. If the changes being enacted lead to improvement, they will then be implemented in the ‘act’ stage.

There are other additional foundational frameworks that are addressed in the implementation of QI in different sectors. Each of them functions as quantitative parameters for evaluating progress in health-related matters such as the decrease in maternal deaths in childbirth, immunization rates, and the number of physicians that are available to serve given numbers of patients. According to Leischow & Milstein (2006) FOCUS PDCA, API, ISO 9000, Baldrige Criteria, Lean, and Six Sigma, are additional frameworks that are employed in the improvement of healthcare quality.

Why do various health care stakeholders define the quality of care differently?
Quality is defined in different ways by various healthcare stakeholders. Essentially, the definition of quality relies on the person that is describing the quality. Healthcare providers, such as nurses, will have a different definition from healthcare researchers, for instance. On the other hand, government officials working in the healthcare sector will define quality in a different way from patients who receive the end product of the treatment.

What are the roles of various clinicians and patients in QI?
Stakeholders in the healthcare sector who stand to benefit in different ways from the implementation of quality improvement include medical practitioners, patients, contractors, a government official who work in the healthcare sector, and various healthcare organizations. These stakeholders have significant roles in contributing towards the implementation of quality improvement (Lee, 2007). For patients, quality improvement is important because it affects their chances of getting the best treatment. Medical care providers, on the other hand, care for quality improvement because their tasks and responsibilities will be simplified if processes of improvement are implemented in their facilities. For instance, the implementation of quality processes will allow them to be able to easily monitor the spread of diseases in the public.

The payers like Medicaid and Medicare, on the other hand, make it possible for the medical provider to develop quality by means of incentives that support quality improvement. Healthcare organizations can contribute towards the development of performance measures and standards that update the processes involved in quality improvement. Government policymakers can also come up with initiatives that encourage quality improvement.

Why is quality management needed in the health care industry?
The quality management of healthcare is important because it constitutes generating, implementing, and supervising the execution of policies and measures that improve patient care, reduce mortality rates, and enhance the productivity of healthcare facilities. Quality improvement evolves different factors to properly execute any plans for the new process. In the healthcare sector, there are six priority areas in which quality improvement is concentrated. These include areas concerned with the implementation of evidence-based practices, population health metrics, systems thinking, research and evaluation, workforce and education, and sustainability policy.

There is an organization known as the ‘Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare’ that is tasked with developing and sustaining quality improvements in all the above priority areas in America (Leischow & Milstein, 2006). Healthcare facilities such as healthcare organizations, healthcare networks, and ambulatory surgery centers which have implemented quality improvements evaluate their implementations against the recommendations provided by this commission.

Helpful resources and organizations that affect QIThere are healthcare payers such as Medicaid and Medicare which work in league with healthcare providers to avail efficient and affordable quality care for vulnerable populations in communities (Lee, 2007). The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), which is responsible for curbing the spread of infectious diseases also positively impacts any moves made by healthcare organizations towards quality improvement. In addition, FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which is responsible for is responsible for the testing of pharmaceutical drugs among other functions related to the supervision of food products, also helps in the process of the implementation of quality control by monitoring medical mistakes. By testing the validity of various drugs and medical treatments, it can inform the healthcare industry on any potential risks that may result from the use of specific treatments or drugs.