Advances in health care continue at an astounding rate. However, facilities struggle when it comes to meeting the needs of patients. Patient safety concerns linger, and the system often lacks efficiency. The time has come to redesign the medical environment to provide reliable, cost-effective, and quality care.
There are many ways in which the medical environment can be redesigned. For example, the facility needs to look at equipment for hospitals and pharmacies. Can improvements be made in this area? No element of patient care can be overlooked at this time. The following are a few of the countless ways a facility can improve the quality of care.
Expanded Prenatal Care
According to the World Health Organization, women need to see their health providers a minimum of once a month upon learning they are pregnant. During these eight visits, the doctor can look for any potential problems and develop a treatment plan to address the issues. The regular visits reduce the risk of a child being stillborn or dying shortly after birth.
During the visits, the medical team can educate the woman on healthy lifestyle choices. Family planning may be discussed during these visits, and the team may talk with the woman about disease prevention. This support and information will benefit the woman throughout the pregnancy and after birth. Early intervention remains crucial to improving care.
Data Collection and Goal Setting
Health care organizations need to collect data whenever possible, as anything that cannot be measured cannot be managed. With this data, the organization can determine where improvements need to be made. Once this has been determined, the organization needs to set concrete and measurable goals for improvement. To be effective, the goals must be quantitative and precise.
Focus on Chronic Conditions
Health care organizations across the globe find they are seeing more patients with chronic conditions. To address this problem, the World Health Organization has partnered with others to create the Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions framework. This framework works to improve health care at all levels for individuals with a chronic condition. This includes at the micro, meso, and macro levels.
Doing so ensures the patient and family receive the care and support they need. Health care organizations, the community, and policymakers also do their parts under this framework to build and redesign health systems that meet the needs of patients with chronic conditions. They must do so in accordance with local resources and demands.
Communication and Collaboration
Health care organizations can learn from each other, which is why communication and collaboration are critical to improving the quality of health care facilities. Patient care is only one aspect that should be addressed when improving this quality.
As previously mentioned, equipment may be contributing to poor patient care. When a health care facility recognizes it is lacking in this area, it needs to reach out to others for suggestions on how to make improvements. This helps the facility determine which equipment should be purchased to provide a higher level of care.
There are many ways to enhance the quality of health care facilities. Allina Health, for example, allows pharmacists to handle medication therapy management. Mission Health in North Carolina, on the other hand, is working to identify sepsis earlier and improve patient outcomes.
What works for one organization might not be appropriate for another. Every healthcare facility must determine where improvement in needed within its organization to enhance quality for everyone using the facility. When facilities do so, health care for all will improve.
