Quality and value of Healthcare Systems in the United States

Quality and value of Healthcare Systems in the United States

The health care system in the United States continues to face significant challenges that have required urgent reform processes. The primary concern is the millions of Americans uninsured (46 million), and the other numerous citizens insured but face a rapid increase in the premiums and out-of-pocket costs (Graban, 2018). The concerns made the Obama administration and Congress to consider various ways to invest new funds in reducing the number of citizens with no insurance cover. The practice had an objective to address the shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that result in high costs, poor health outcomes, and to ensure every individual in the nation accesses adequate care. However, despite the efforts by President Obama administration, the country still has numerous setbacks in its health care system. The health outcomes have deteriorated in the U.S due to the quality and value of care given to the patients. The feasibility and the sustainability of the expansions in coverage in the current health care system still have huge gaps even for the individuals with the insurance cover. The quality and value in the health care system are thus a primary issue that needs to get addressed for expansion and cover.

Impact of Quality and Value in health care Systems to Health Organizations

The quality and value in the provision of care impact organizations in different ways. Most patients in various health organizations and the entire United States do not get the care they need even though the nation spends much money per individual on health care than any other country across the world. For instance, preventive care is underutilized, and this results in high spending in complicated and advanced diseases (Schuster, McGlynn, & Brook, 1998). The patients who suffer from conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes all too often do not receive proven and efficient care like drug therapies or self-management services to aid them effectively manage their conditions (Schuster, McGlynn, & Brook, 1998). The problems get facilitated by a lack of coordination of care for patients with chronic diseases.

In our organization, in addition to most patients not receiving the needed care, others receive care that may be unnecessary or, in some cases, harmful. The health organization in the past year has witnessed six different instances of the individuals put to adverse treatment due to the wrong prescription, especially to the patients that have gone through a transition from other care facilities. The practice has resulted in increased costs of care and poor quality of the services delivered (Graban, 2018). The poor quality of care demonstrated in the hospitals have seen the organization show ineffectiveness in different treatments and have failed to detect and reduce the errors, further contributing to the gaps in the quality and efficiency care.

The poor quality care affects both the patients and providers in negatively. For patients, the poor quality and value in the provision of care reduces the chances of survival, aggravates illnesses, and also results in unnecessary deaths. Such circumstances indicate that the providers have failed both ethically and legally since they have a responsibility to enhance the chances of survival of their patients, reduce the severity of the diseases and cure diseases, and not to facilitate the harm (Marshall, 2010). In most cases, I have witnessed a handful of such cases resulting in a lawsuit that seeks the practitioners imprisoned or, in some cases, fined alongside their institutions. Also, the poor quality and value in the provision of care damages the reputation of the firm and has resulted in shunning away prospective clients, and this implies lousy business for private organizations. It thus has an impact on the image of the company and can realize significant losses for private health organizations.

Moreover, the lack of quality and value in health care systems within the organization has limited the establishment of the evidence on the treatments and most effective procedures. The providers use methods that they have not determined their impacts on the patient outcome and the result is always poor health outcomes among the patients.

Summary of the sources

Schuster, M. A., McGlynn, E. A., & Brook, R. H. (1998). How good is the quality of health care in the United States? The Milbank Quarterly, 76(4), 517-563.

The article attempts to illustrate the gaps that exist in the provision of medical care in the united states. According to the authors, the quality of health care offered in the united states varies among various hospitals, states, and cities. Whether the care is acute, chronic, or preventive, in most cases, the attention given does not meet the professional standards that will realize the needed care amongst patients. Also, the authors explain that the solution is not just spending more money on health care. However, the primary source of the quality and value problem in the nation is the inappropriate care provided. The government and other responsible organizations should focus on the elimination of such non-beneficial and potentially harmful care that may result in substantial savings in human and financial costs. The article recommends that the clinicians and health plans should utilize information on quality to determine the areas where they can focus their efforts to offer better care.

Marshall, E. S. (2010). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader. Springer Publishing Company.

Marshall and Broome (2017) describe the importance of transformational leadership in the provision of quality care. According to the authors, health care systems continue to grow more complex, corporate, and costly. The United States citizens face urgent problems of system complexity that have created financial shortfalls, poor distribution of the resources, and there are also low shortages of the nurses in the nation, factors that result in the provision of poor care. The authors propose that more focus should be on clinical practice and educational preparation for practice. The government must ensure that the individuals employed to work in the health care organizations are competent and have the practical skills to execute their roles.

Strategies to Address the Poor Quality and Value in the Health Care Systems

The government, private sectors, or the private-public partnership should establish a systematic approach for routine monitoring and reporting quality associated with the information systems required to support such health systems activities. The tracking will help monitor the activities done within the organizations and strive to improve the efficiency with high-quality services offered. Moreover, the government should set up a quality measurement system that can provide multiple participants in the health care system with the information required to ensure the delivery of high-quality care. Regarding the problems that the country has experienced, the government should have its focus on a strategy that will measure and consequently improve the quality of the care given to the patients and thus improve the health outcomes.

Moreover, the government should shift its focus on the eradication of the non-beneficial and harmful that results in significant financial and human losses. The government should ensure that medical providers utilize information on quality to determine the areas where they can focus their efforts on the provision of better care. Even though there are effective technologies that can offer efficient care, the health departments should ensure that the clinicians and doctors get sufficient education to equip them with the skills to handle the patients using the technologies. Moreover, the nurses and doctors should attend workshops and conferences that will ensure that they have the capabilities through shared knowledge to improve the health outcomes of the patients. Through this recommendation, only competent medical providers will get employed in the organization, and this will help improve the quality and value of care provided.

Conclusion

Health care systems keep changing and especially with the advancement of technology. The improvements with no appropriate knowledge to work with the techniques will result in complexities that will add to the challenges that the sector is already experiencing. The government should consider a strategy that will aim to monitor and report the nature of the care given to the patients in different health facilities in the nation and that the providers employed in various organizations can execute their responsibilities, that is, competent medical providers.

References

Graban, M. (2018). Lean hospitals: improving quality, patient safety, and employee engagement. Productivity Press.

Marshall, E. S. (2010). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader. Springer Publishing Company.

Schuster, M. A., McGlynn, E. A., & Brook, R. H. (1998). How good is the quality of health care in the United States? The Milbank Quarterly, 76(4), 517-563.