The Need for Quality Performance in Healthcare Organizations

Reflection Paper Assignment

The need for quality performance has increased over the past decade, prompting healthcare organizations to embrace the need for benchmarking progressively.  The fundamental principle of benchmarking includes identifying a comparison point of comparing major organization’s aspects to identify trends, processes, and success factors of improving performance (Shoemaker, 2011). Healthcare organizations’ needs for benchmarking comprise the significances of controlling healthcare costs following the declining government reimbursements, structure risks, and quality of care management, and subsequently meet patients and other stakeholders’ expectations (Shoemaker, 2011). These predicaments have resulted in the establishment of various national and international projects to develop comparison indicators.  Currently, the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid  Services (CMS ) keeps data sources that healthcare organizations can utilize for benchmarking activities to identify specific disparities and improvement opportunities.

I have realized that a hospital can make a detailed comparison of its experiences with its peers by analyzing relevant information from significant repositories such as CMS. Such an analysis boon the healthcare organization with invaluable insights into the costs and its critical services usage rates.  It potentially enables the facility to identify problems in bookkeeping and coding practices (Shoemaker, 2011). Hospitals can also obtain) claims information for review and analysis, which is essential in allocating specific medical costs. Besides, healthcare facilities with high complication rates compared to their peers should seek to and comprehend the underlying factors. Higher complication rates above the average are an indication of poor performances for the audit recovery committee. However, it is essential adjustments should be made when comparing data of different areas hospitals, but later in the analysis when addressing variations according to certain variables like wages and regions, e.t.c.

I concur that facilities should also minimize unnecessary CCU usage to improve savings accounts.  They should also reduce complication rates by identifying the underlying reason like high admission rates, documentation, and coding processes.  Identifying these factors helps the organization identify the specific factors causing the issue and implement corrective actions (Shoemaker, 2011). The failure for an organization to identify these issues subject the organizations to the audit recovery committee concerns. The efficiency and healthcare systems quality can involve evaluating the interaction between the structure, processes, and `outcomes, comprehending the impacts of alternative improvement strategies on operating effectiveness among various hospitals (Hwang et al., 2011). Structure strategies and processes are oriented towards quality improvement approaches to determine that pigeons often manage projects.

Improving physical and ER operations are mainly projects oriented to remodel the hospital layout, reduce travel time, and others. For instance, the administration of Guro improved the corporeal structure of ER processes and remodeled the facility’s structural layout, which resulted in a significant change (Hwang et al., 2011). The administration strategy focuses on the management of ER operations and implemented standard critical pathways and protocols. It is essential to establish standard guidelines oriented towards promoting collaboration among the multifaceted teams.

The Guro hospital performance improved, and the levels appear acceptable to the company. However, close observation of the outcomes indicated that the implemented structural layout did not improve performances. Some of the affected departments include the PT/PTT that reported offsets, significantly affecting positive influence (Hwang et al., 2011). Some of such unsatisfactory results arise from compromised employee behavior and the general failure in technical coordination. Some employees reported enough time to complete as they had saved enough time during the sample collection. Thus, the blind application or implementation of structural changes without skilled and dedicated employees suggests that a simple implementation of structural changes without skilled employees and quality application process control can result in poor performance (Hwang et al., 2011). Training and education are essential in promoting quality improvements. The management should use processes management techniques, emphasizing employees’ disciplines and enhance performance.

In general, I have noted that the essential techniques or strategies in healthcare project management including layout and redesigning implementation of critical pathways, LOS, and the facility’s charges. Simple structural process objectives do not certainly enhance improvements during ER management. Poor or lack of significant improvements can also be attributed to employees or inappropriate tools and equipment in accomplishing the project. Thus, to enhance structural changes benefits, the hospitals’ leaders and management must fund, manage, process, and enforce employees’ behavior. Training and development are ultimately indisposable in minimizing improvement benefits of the physical and processes.