Quality assurance program

Quality assurance program

The healthcare setting is charged with the task of ensuring that patients are provided with quality healthcare services that facilitate quick patient recovery as well as the most suitable approach towards the treatment exercise. The above objectives can be attained through adherence to the outlined quality assurance programs in healthcare facilities by all the parties involved in the healthcare services delivery (Gunjan, 2009).

Responses for Case #1 Pharmacotherapy patients

Medical therapy management is an essential aspect of the healthcare sector that ensures that there is effective service delivery to patients. However, the efficiency of the NTM is dependent on several factors surrounding the service delivery protocols as well as the implementation systems. As a result, there is a necessity for the development of quality assurance practices as well as frameworks to ensure that the above policies get implemented.  This is, therefore, both administrative as well as an operational task that requires a clearly outlined action plan that will help to facilitate the achievement of the desired outcomes.

For our new MTM pharmacotherapy service, there is the necessity to take into account various operational factors. One is the fact that the MTM will be a tertiary, referral facility and service referral patients from the entire southwestern United States, where we will get to see patients 1-2 times per year or will only see them once to troubleshoot especially severe drug problems the physicians are either unable to solve or to rule out whether medications are contributory to the patient’s medical issues at all. As a result, to ensure that there is the development of a quality assurance program and culture in our facility areas such as patient health records, follow up treatment assessments as well as accurate diagnosis should be highly sought after (John, 2015).

Patient medical health records are essential in ensuring the continuous provision of the required healthcare services. This is because the documents serve as the reference material through which subsequent treatment approaches are based upon. For the safe storage as well as quick retrieval of such records, our facility could invest in an electronic health records system where patients’ vital information could get stored and accessed easily. This would, therefore, facilitate the achievement of the quality assurance program in the facility as well as effective service delivery to the patients affiliated to the healthcare institution.

Given that our institution is affiliated to a hospital that conducts lung transplants, we are also tasked with the challenge of providing pre and post-transplant advice to our patients to facilitate an effective service delivery program to our patients. This could be achieved by the development of a patient advisory wing where specialists in healthcare counselling could interact with the patients and walk them through what is expected either at the beginning of the treatment process as well as the outcomes of the activity.  The pre and post-transplant counselling services could be instrumental in ensuring that the patients are enlightened as well as educated on the importance of the ongoing medical procedure.

To further enhance and cultivate a quality assurance in the facility, patient self-help groups could get formed where patients experiencing the same kind of health conditions could come together and talk about their experiences and if possible in the presence of a healthcare service provider. This way, it will be possible to develop an inclusivity culture in the facility where patients could feel seen and heard and also help them to realize that they are not the only ones experiencing the particular health conditions they may be suffering from at the moment.  This would, in turn, result in a positive response from the patients during the treatment process, which could significantly impact the quality of services provided in the institution.

The use of clinically tested and approved pharmacotherapy drugs in the facility is another quality assurance approach that the facility could utilize. This would help to ensure that there are fewer instances of harmful side effects caused by prescription drugs on the patients.  This could be implemented by providing that all the prescription drugs sold to our patients are obtained from the facility’s pharmacy.

Responses for Case #2 COPD patients: Asthma patients

Health insurance is an essential aspect of employees working in various lines of work where they are regularly exposed to multiple healthy wellbeing risks. For instance, the Daily Eco-Planet exposes its employees to wood and ink products in the printing of newspapers, causing increased asthma symptoms in its employee population. On the other hand, Kryptonite Earth, Inc. exposes its employees to an asbestos-like product, kryptonite, which causes both asthma and COPD symptoms in the employee population. It is, therefore, possible to identify that the employees in the above two industries work in hazardous environments where they need better and improved healthcare services. It is also necessary to note that the two employers are self-insured and therefore, may not be in a position to provide their employees with the best possible medical insurance covers.

Our new monitoring MTM service could, therefore, focus on the preventive approach to ensure the quality observance is attained.  The employees working in hazardous conditions could be required to ensure that they are at all-time wearing protective gear to reduce their exposure to the toxins. This would help to reduce the prevalence as well as the severity of the identified cases related to work acquired ailments. By ensuring that the preventive measures are followed, it will also see to it that any complications get addressed before advancing to more resistant strains.

Regular pulmonary and general health checkups for the employees of the above institutions could also be another approach developed to facilitate quality assurance. By ensuring that the employees are in a position to access regular screening, then it will be possible to control the prevalence of any related pulmonary ailments through early and timely identification. The patients will, therefore, be able to access appropriate and affordable care before the development of any further complications.

To help produce better medical outcomes for the employees as well as lower the employer’s medical costs, the medical clinic and MTM  could outsource for alternative service providers in the field of medical supplies and other facility supplies. By doing so, it will be possible to procure lower treatment costs for the employees. At the same time, the employers will be able to cut on the expenses incurred during employee treatment under the company’s insurance policy cover. To implement the above measures, there is the necessity to conduct an audit on the tender awards for the respective service providers in every aspect of the supply sector. This will help to ensure that the best supplier who meets the needs of the employer and the employees gets selected.

However, it is necessary to remember that the Metropolis region has a large population and thus necessitates a considerable workforce to ensure that the setout objectives are attained. Serving an entire community of approximately 2 million individual, there will be the necessity to implement a properly functioning operational framework that will facilitate the flow of services within the institution while at the same time ensuring that all the beneficiaries of the system can access the required services with minimum ease.