Successful Healthcare System

Successful Healthcare System

 Health is defined as a state of complete social, physical, and mental well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The healthcare system entails all the activities whose aim is to promote, restore, and maintain health. A sound health system is one that is mandated with the delivery of treatment and prevention programs effectively. These programs have to be aimed at the maximum attainment of goals in a fair manner. There are three primary goals of a sound healthcare system. It should improve the health of individuals, communities, and the entire population. Different people in the community experience diverse health needs, which require an effective health system with the capacity to respond actively to the emerging and local health demands. It should also ensure that the financial burden is distributed fairly among all the citizens. However, when a country has a weak health system, there is harm to the health of the patients, healthcare workers, and the community. When hospitals experience medical errors, there is an increase in the mortality rate. Poor hygiene in hospitals and prolonged stay inwards can increase the burden of nosocomial infections. These infections pose a higher risk to patients whose immunity is compromised by chemotherapy or chronic diseases. The weak health systems can also incorporate healthcare workers who lack proper training on drug prescription. Excessive antibiotics administration and use can result in antibiotic resistance, which increases the healthcare burden. Currently, the quality of health in Zimbabwe is deteriorating, with an increase in physicians’ strikes. Zimbabwe being a third-world country, has a lot of improvements to handle in the healthcare setting. These changes can be approached in the domains discussed below.

Service delivery

Healthcare service delivery should be people-centered and integrated in order to reach universal health coverage. In order for Zimbabwe to attain successful service delivery, there is a need for development and improvement of existing policies to include evidence-based guidelines and best practices. People-centered care is organized and focused around the needs and expectations of the communities rather than on the diseases. It pays attention to the health of people and their role in policy development. The integrated healthcare system includes the management and delivery of safe and quality health services to the people. This will ensure that patients receive proper diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitative services in their site-of-care within the health system (Bitton, A., Ratcliffe, H.L., Veillard, J.H., Kress, D.H., Barkley, S., Kimball, M., Secci, F., Wong, E., Basu, L., Taylor, C. and Bayona, J., 2017). Excellent service delivery should observe the quality of drugs, equipment, and supplies. The health workers should also be well paid, motivated, and supervised. The health system should ensure access to quality services. They should be efficiently and equitably financed with rational planning and professional management based on available data.

Health workforce

The most crucial input in healthcare is the health workforce, which impacts strongly on the health outcome of the community. Patients receive better quality of health depending on the quality of life experienced by the staff at work. Therefore, human resource management, skills, and policies are of utmost importance to better patients’ care by the health workforce. The HRM should, therefore, understand how the workforce is going to respond to new rules, responsibilities, and roles before making any reforms (WHO 2016). Proper management of the workforce should include the provision of adequate drugs and supplies. There also should be strategies in place for data tracking and financing for fair staff hiring in the national budget.

Health information system

The health information systems should produce accurate, complete, and timely data for proper assessment and monitoring of the healthcare system (Wager and Glaser 2017). The goal of HIS is linking data to improve decision making, thus ensuring high-quality health service delivery. Zimbabwe should, therefore, adopt a flexible approach for refining and designing new tools for enhancement of HIS. There should be routine data quality audits with automated troubleshooting. Timely feedback on healthcare system performance will improve decision making through regular data review meetings. Through HIS, problems, progress, and needs can be easily identified at all levels of the health system. This approach avails evidence-based decisions on health programs and policies. It also allows optimal resource allocation for successful health improvement using available information. Routine HIS data can be improved through simple data quality assessments with the help of data managers and health workers. Technological interventions, for example, ICT, minimize errors through reducing data bulkiness and automation of data collection, validation, and analysis.

Medical products, vaccines, and technologies

A reliable healthcare system must have pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other medical products (Manyazewal, T., 2017). The purchase of these products requires a well-executed supply chain and procurement processes. The procurement of health products should be centralized. Zimbabwe should make efforts aimed at improving supply chain management to provide the increased availability of health products as well as reduce stock-outs. Therefore, the policymakers and practitioners must provide equitable access to essential products through pro-poor financing of these products. The quality of prescribing practices by health workers also be assured through local enforcement of regulations and cost-effectiveness.  The backbone of the health system is a well-functioning supply chain. An ineffective supply chain will weaken the system’s ability to respond to the health needs of the people and therefore risk the treatment program. A good supply chain will guarantee the continuous availability of high quality and affordable medicine, vaccines, and health products at all delivery points. The supply chain is made up of an ecosystem of people, technology, information, activities, organization, and resources. This ecosystem avails the products to their own points of need in a cost-effective way. Technology is critical in procurement and supply chain for data storage and return of information regarding demand, need, and supply to health system planners.

Financing

Healthcare financing is a vital component of health systems. Funding has improved to include personal payment during service delivery and prepayment through health insurance. A developing country like Zimbabwe should improve governmental funding through general taxation together with non-governmental and private organizations. Insurance plans, however, avoid offering their services to community-oriented services and at special-risk groups like infants and women. The government should, therefore, step-in and help in finance such groups. Financial systems should be placed to raise adequate funds for health and protect people from financial catastrophes. Zimbabwe requires to have pro-poor financing of essential products. They should allocate resources via the use of data for purchasing goods and services in ways that improve equity, quality, and efficiency (Tangcharoensathien, V., Mills, A. and Palu, T., 2015). Stewardship is essential in the reduction of misappropriation of funds allocated for health through corruption. Poor governance also will undermine the acquisition and spending of public funds and in turn, producing poor quality services. Staff supervision will also help to minimize absenteeism, which steals from the public sector.

Leadership and governance

Leadership and governance have the responsibility of identifying factors that bring success in the healthcare system. They should handle their subsequent implementation. In a third-world country like Zimbabwe with scarce resources, there is a need for improved leadership and governance. Appropriate resource allocation, setting clear objectives, and provision of necessary parameters to the board aid in proper decision making. Leadership practices have implications in staff motivation and suitable team building for appropriate patient care. Achievement of strong leadership requires reforms at individual, team, and system levels. There is a need to create and select leaders and system of governance that has a health background (Gilson, L and Agyepong 2018). These leaders have a more comprehensive understanding of the field, and they are more likely to engage with the health context. Excellent leadership and governance must avail of strategic policy frameworks. They must also build coalitions and provide effective oversight during service delivery. Proper management is tasked with accountability for patients’ financing, which will empower the consumers. They should provide appropriate incentives to their workers in order to ensure the quality of service delivery.

The above-mentioned domains of the healthcare system are summed up with the people who are in need of quality healthcare services. The population includes individuals, households, and communities. They are further classified into civil society, patients, consumers, and health care providers. Proper education to the general public through mass media, seminars, and in the hospitals is a critical area that should be implemented. Knowledge of disease causation, signs, and symptoms, disease transmission, and prevention will help healthcare systems in reducing the morbidity and mortality currently experienced in both public and private health facilities.

Measurement and evaluation of healthcare systems

Measurement or evaluation of the health system compares how close the actual health performance I to the estimated theoretical maximum health performance. There are two methods for the evaluation of healthcare systems.

Regression Line Method

This method involves the construction of a straight line from a sample of population health outcomes versus specified inputs (Bähler, C., Huber, C.A., Brüngger, B. and Reich, O., 2015). These inputs include but not limited to physicians and nurses, equipment, and supplies. The outcomes include life expectancy despite healthcare limitations. From the graph, the most efficient healthcare system has the best health level with the provided inputs.

Efficiency, Access, and Quality

Efficiency is measured based on how well a healthcare system attains its objectives at the least possible price. Efficiency is divided into two, namely; technical efficiency and allocative efficiency. Technical efficiency measures the production of maximum health with a set of available inputs. Allocative efficiency accounts for the attainment of overall goals through the output of the right health services.

Access evaluates the physical availability of healthcare providers, for example, nurses and doctors to their population — effective availability such as cost measures how truly healthcare is delivered to the community.

Quality of care, as seen by the patient and the healthcare provider, is measured in the following ways — the quantity of care given to a particular patient and clinical quality. The clinical quality is based on the skills of health providers in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention (Chukmaitov, A., Harless, D.W., Bazzoli, G.J., Carretta, H.J., and Siangphoe, U., 2015). Service delivery should also be taken into account. This examines how timely the services were provided and the degree of sincerity in delivery.

Conclusion

The healthcare system in most third-world countries, including Zimbabwe, is deteriorating. This is mainly attributed to poor governance, poverty, and lack of proper training of healthcare providers. However, government, private organizations, and non-governmental organizations are trying to divert the situation. Good health helps in the prevention, protection, and prevention of diseases. Despite the advantages, experiences, when good health practices are observed, there are harms that can result from poor health. These harms are the emergence of antibiotic resistance, increases incidences of nosocomial infections, and increases mortality from doctors’ negligence.  Healthcare quality can be improved with the observation of the following vital domains. Increased quality of service delivery and ensuring there is equitable access to finances will increase the number of patients acquiring health services. The proper motivation of the workforce through excellent human resource management will also improve health. Human resource management also has the responsibility of hiring adequate staff to motivate the workforce. The health information system also plays a vital role in ensuring health. HIS ensures that accurate, correct, and timely data is available to aid in decision making. The incorporation of technological innovations has helped in reducing errors and data bulkiness. A well-functioning supply chain has played a significant role in ensuring quality healthcare. Technology, procurement, and supply chain held in the prevention of stock-outs. Financing by personal payment, prepayment through insurance, and government financing of special groups help in the attainment of universal health coverage. Positive influence from leaders and governance motivates the healthcare providers, which consequently reflects with improved patient care.

References

Bähler, C., Huber, C.A., Brüngger, B., and Reich, O., 2015. Multimorbidity, health care utilization, and costs in an elderly community-dwelling population: a claims data based observational study. BMC health services research, 15(1), p.23.

Bitton, A., Ratcliffe, H.L., Veillard, J.H., Kress, D.H., Barkley, S., Kimball, M., Secci, F., Wong, E., Basu, L., Taylor, C. and Bayona, J., 2017. Primary health care as a foundation for strengthening health systems in low-and middle-income countries. Journal of general internal medicine, 32(5), pp.566-571.

Chukmaitov, A., Harless, D.W., Bazzoli, G.J., Carretta, H.J., and Siangphoe, U., 2015. Delivery system characteristics and their association with quality and costs of care: Implications for accountable care organizations. Health care management review, 40(2), pp.92-103.

Gilson, L., and Agyepong, I.A., 2018. Strengthening health system leadership for better governance: what does it take?

Manyazewal, T., 2017. Using the World Health Organization health system building blocks through a survey of healthcare professionals to determine the performance of public healthcare facilities. Archives of Public Health, 75(1), p.50.

Tangcharoensathien, V., Mills, A., and Palu, T., 2015. Accelerating health equity: the critical role of universal health coverage in the Sustainable Development Goals. BMC medicine, 13(1), p.101.

World Health Organization, 2016. Global strategy on human resources for health: workforce 2030.

Wager, K.A., Lee, F.W., and Glaser, J.P., 2017. Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley & Sons.