Similar to other occupational environments, healthcare is also a hierarchical system where malfunctioning at any stage can delay and worsen services at the customer level. And given the nature and functions of the healthcare sector, even minor ups and downs in quality management can lead to catastrophic challenges. Thus, there is always room for the improvement, sophistication, and management of healthcare services. An ideal situation is when a hospital can satisfy the requirements of individual patients and masses side by side.
But it is not easy to ensure all-rounded and personalized services simultaneously. Delivering desired services requires identifying expectations and quantifying the deliverables. And healthcare experts and administrators alone cannot categorize and address the needs of the end-users. That is why hospitals should involve all the participants, including healthcare professionals, patients, investors, and analysts, while addressing quality management issues. As such, patients’ feedback is one of the indications to identify where services need improvement. Interaction with technical experts can help hospitals explore advanced technology for the management and betterment of quality. In essence, service and quality improvement strategies should cater to macro and micro-level challenges at every stage of healthcare infrastructure.
The following sections further explore some strategies to improve quality management in healthcare.
- Treat the patient as the fundamental entity
Since healthcare services revolve around patients, hospitals should treat their involvement as fundamental. Hospitals can only achieve their operational objectives if they can satisfy patients’ needs. For that, hospitals should understand and evaluate the demands and expectations of today’s highly anticipative healthcare recipients. So, participation and feedback of patients should be an integral part of the quality healthcare management framework.
Access to limitless online resources has enhanced patients’ consciousness regarding health requirements and emerging problems. Now, they can understand and make sound decisions about their well-being and preferences. And they can also better tell where they are experiencing quality shortcomings. In short, today’s patients know what and how to negotiate and advocate for their cause. Thus, hospitals should seek and welcome the opinion of such a well-informed stakeholder, even if it is disapproval. Quality will improve automatically once healthcare providers become mindful of patients’ requirements.
- Train healthcare workers
Healthcare workers are the heart of any healthcare setting. Without improving their skills, ensuring quality and delivering services is simply unimaginable. Therefore, hospitals should upskill workers in a constantly changing and challenging healthcare sector. Otherwise, employees cannot adjust and walk alongside digital revolutions to serve patients.
Merely medical knowledge and routine practice cannot help them operate novel equipment, digital applications, and virtual platforms. These factors require them to upgrade their skills with every new challenge. Apart from medicine and digital skills, hospitals should also depart communication, management, supervision, teamwork, and decision-making know-how. These skills are equally essential for the smooth functioning of a healthcare facility. Unless they have the skills to understand the procedure and manage service quality, they cannot contribute to its improvement. Similarly, workers cannot accommodate to diverse requirements of the workplace without assistance from employers. Thus, healthcare employers should incorporate necessary training sessions without exhausting workers’ schedules, budgets, and energy.
- Identify and embrace technological novelties
Technological innovations are an inevitable reality now. No one can stop or halt the speed of innovations when technology brings unbound benefits. For this reason, hospitals should embrace novel technological trends rather than the aversion to technology and delays in its adoption. Technology novelties improve existing ways of doing things. And the same goes for healthcare operations and services. It is impressive how technology has reduced human errors and improved precision. As such, doctors can identify the amount of complexity and the likelihood of success of a real-time procedure even before performing it.
Artificial intelligence and crisper technology allow healthcare experts to intervene even in the genetic makeup. The sophistication that technology offers ultimately contributes to the success of procedures, leading to better quality management. Thus, the early healthcare professionals and hospitals recognize and embrace emerging novelties, the better they can serve patients with quality service.
- Enhance healthcare accessibility
No matter how sophisticated and advanced hospitals are, they cannot deliver on their promises if patients cannot access their services. At present, there are countless healthcare units around the world. Yet, according to the World Health Organization findings, half of the global population is experiencing a lack of access to much-needed healthcare services. It means access to healthcare services is more crucial than premium quality. Hence, patients’ access is a fundamental prerequisite of the quality management framework.
Many will not suffer or succumb to challenges if healthcare providers can ensure universal access to primary care. To do so, healthcare stakeholders should cater to obstacles on a priority basis. For instance, the higher cost of healthcare services is a prominent factor behind lower healthcare access. And sometimes, patients’ ethnic, religious, social, and gender affiliations obstruct their access to essential healthcare services. A variety of such factors impede the delivery of healthcare services. Thus, minimizing obstacles is one way to improve quality management.
- Assess healthcare operations and upgrade policies
Given the advancements in the healthcare sector, it is unimaginable that a hospital can function well on a pre-defined framework of policies. Policies become outdated with the changes in a working environment and organizational structure over time. For instance, workers’ scope of responsibilities changes with the addition and resignation of employees. So, existing human resource guidelines and rules have also become obsolete. In the same way, outdated policies also increase unnecessary formalities and impeded interventions during emergencies.
As hospitals assess short-term and long-term changes in their organizational operations, policies should also undergo tweaking and upgrading to adjust the organization’s operations as per challenges, transformation, and expectations. Otherwise, hospitals cannot ensure the quality of healthcare services if they cannot figure out emerging demands and challenges. Assessment and evaluation are inevitable processes to restore shortcomings so that patients do not experience interruptions and glitches in healthcare service and quality.
- Extend collaborations with other occupations and industries
The healthcare system is not a standalone and autonomous entity. And comprehensive care does not only confine to the premises of a hospital. Workers, patients, investors, and communities are all inherent stakeholders with diverse demands. Given that, healthcare functions are becoming multidisciplinary and complex. It means mere medical domain expertise cannot manage the complexities of public and private intervention. Therefore, when healthcare professionals’ expertise falls short, collaboration with other disciplines is inevitable to manage services and ensure quality. A multidisciplinary approach can help participants unearth mismanagement obstacles and tackle inferior quality.
As such, researchers and analysts from academia can assist in improving methodology and practices. Interaction with pharmaceuticals manufacturers can improve drug effectiveness. Alliances with industry specialists can contribute to the manufacturing of better healthcare equipment and tools. In short, equitable and universal care is only possible with a healthy partnership.
Conclusion
Healthcare quality improvement is an ongoing process that requires constant effort for fine-tuning. And the process is not confined to the healthcare experts alone. While assessing service quality from the medical point of view, they may leave out other crucial aspects. Before addressing and managing quality, it is essential to understand the demands of the individual participants. Thus, engagement and collaboration are inevitable requirements for effective strategies.