Forces Affecting the Delivery of Healthcare Services and their Impact on Health Care
Various factors affect the delivery of healthcare services. The first factor is the socio-demographic variables associated with the patient, which mainly influence the interaction between the care provider and the patient and the quality of care services. Factors such as cultural inclination, the preference of a given food type, family values, patient background, and certain practices tend to have a bearing on the delivery and subsequently, the quality of care that a patient receives. For instance, specific cultures and religious beliefs are totally against certain practices such as abortion, even if the life of the mother is in danger, and it is medically advisable to procure an abortion to save the mother's life. Additionally, some patients believe that they can only heal when they take certain medicines (Marshall et al., 2015). Some doctors believe that trying to explain the side effects of medication on the patient is futile and may not deter them from buying them over the counter.
In most cases, social-demographic variables ted not hinder the outcome of health care provision because most cultural practices are not compatible with medical practice. The quality of care depends on the patient's level of exposure, their attitude, and financial capability. Lack of proper financial resources often leads to lower or the absence of quality care.
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Patient cooperation and involvement affect the quality of care. It is challenging to attain the objectives of care if the patient is uncooperative even if the medical personnel do their job as per the stipulated standards. Clinical outcomes rely on the ability of the patient to cooperate with the clinicians and to provide relevant information as required by the medical personnel (Yesilada et al., 2010). For instance, if a doctor were to prescribe medication that would cause bleeding, it would be beneficial for a patient to disclose any problems of internal bleeding or underlying heart condition to avoid potential complications. It is imperative to note that lack of patient cooperation has the propensity of hindering care delivery and even cause serious repercussion if the patient gives misleading information. It means that the patient should adhere to the directions of the practitioners or risk-averse medical outcomes. For example, if medical personnel direct that certain medications be taken and the patient fails to do so, then it would be impossible for the patient to get well. Patient trust is, therefore, the most important factor in attaining the desired outcomes.
The severity of illness has a bearing on job stress, which further influences the general quality of healthcare services. People that have conditions such as cancer tend to be depressed in situations when they see other patients with the same conditions dying. Such a scenario causes depression and stress that make it difficult for other patients to settle in the new hospital environment and make it difficult to hope for recovery (Mosadeghrad et al., 2014). Such cases, depending on the severity of the condition, may require isolation, which may not be available in certain facilities. Closely related to that is the socio-demographic variables of the care provider. The personality and character of the healthcare provider affect the quality of care services. A medical provider needs to have qualities such as reliability, respect, confidence, intelligence, and helpfulness to develop a rapport with the patients. There is a proven outcome between the physician's communication and attitude and the level of healthcare outcome.
The level of knowledge and skills, which mainly refers to the degree of competence, determines healthcare outcomes. The important factors in this regard include, but not limited to, expertise, proper examination of the patient, technical skills, and knowledge that will enable the physician to perform his or her duties and responsibilities as required. The providers should, therefore, regularly update their skills to be abreast of the changing technologies and new development in the medical field. The healthcare workforce should take advantage of the professional development and education offered by medical universities and colleges. If a doctor lacks certain skills, for instance, communication skills, then the quality of the outcome may be compromised. Hospitals should also provide additional training and education to meet the industry needs.
The level of satisfaction and motivation of the care provider is also important in determining the quality of care offered to the patients and their families. Certain factors such as organizational policies, recognition, co-workers, job identity, working environment, managerial leadership, job security, and opportunities for promotion affect the level of personnel motivation and satisfaction. The low remuneration in public hospitals may affect employees' morale, which subsequently will limit the quality of care offered to the patients. Poor pay in public hospitals, therefore, leads to the low number of care providers because experts opt for better remuneration and terms of service offered in private facilities.
Closely related to that is the healthcare system that entails the primary to the tertiary levels of care. When a healthcare system of a country has few healthcare experts and allocates fewer resources, then the expected quality of care will undoubtedly be diminished. Such is the problem in the developing world where the funds allocated to the healthcare systems are insufficient (Siu et al., 2016). Finally, the leadership and management of healthcare systems also affect the quality of care. Effective leadership and management is an important enabler of the provision of care since it leads to better management of process and medical personnel to attend to the needs of the patients. For instance, proper leadership and management lead to the recruitment of qualified staff that will ensure effective and efficient care to the patients and their families.
Challenges and Opportunities that Exist for Today's Healthcare Leaders
The first challenge is reimbursement, which mainly entails the tremendous pressure to bring down the cost of healthcare. The change in reimbursement models presents a severe hurdle for healthcare leaders. Such means that the healthcare providers cannot rely solely on the provision of primary care services since the government and other business entities intend to reward them based on clinical outcomes and quality of the population. Nevertheless, the new reimbursement models also result in valuable opportunities for leaders because they promise better cots managements (Dyess et al., 2016). The fundamental changes mean that the leaders should rethink the way they conduct business to remain profitable.
Health care policy, such as the Affordable Care Act, promises a degree of uncertainty. The cat had a serious impact on the insurance market, but the uncertainty has made it difficult for various insurance companies and health care systems to expand their operations. Healthcare and the supporting services such as insurance services depend profoundly on predictability. In an advanced market such as that of the US, they should predict the populations to serve and the resulting levels of profitability. The uncertainty also brings forth more excellent opportunities in that the insurance companies and the healthcare systems need to adapt to operate within such a dynamic environment and meet their clients at the points of demand and need.
The emergence of technology presents both opportunities and challenges. The development of specialized systems requires investment in such systems, meaning that the leadership needs to purchase them to be competitive, and investment in terms of training the personnel to adapt to the new systems. Such requires a substantial investment that may derail the profitability of health care providers and facilities. The application of technology helps in the improved care and the subsequent care outcomes, meaning that it is a necessary investment and opportunity for healthcare management and leadership (McDonagh et al., 2014). Finally, the shortage of medical personnel is a serious challenge that requires addressing. The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously exposed the healthcare systems as having inadequate personnel, especially the qualified and skilled personnel. Significant shortages exist in nursing, imaging technicians, nursing assistants, and pharmacists. Besides, the shortage of personnel also presents the leadership with new opportunities in that they should formulate the best strategies to retain a skilled workforce and work on modalities to train new talents to support the existing workforce.
References
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Marshall, D. A., Burgos-Liz, L., IJzerman, M. J., Osgood, N. D., Padula, W. V., Higashi, M. K., & Crown, W. (2015). Applying dynamic simulation modeling methods in health care delivery research—the SIMULATE checklist: report of the ISPOR simulation modeling emerging good practices task force. Value in Health , 18 (1), 5-16.
McDonagh, K. J., Bobrowski, P., Hoss, M. A. K., Paris, N. M., & Schulte, M. (2014). The leadership gap: Ensuring effective healthcare leadership requires inclusion of women at the top. Open Journal of Leadership , 3 (2), 20-29 .
Mosadeghrad, A. M. (2014). Factors influencing healthcare service quality. International Journal of Health Policy and Management , 3 (2), 77.
Siu, A. L., Bibbins-Domingo, K., Grossman, D. C., Baumann, L. C., Davidson, K. W., Ebell, M., & Krist, A. H. (2016). Screening for depression in adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA , 315 (4), 380-387.
Yesilada, F., & Direktör, E. (2010). Health care service quality: A comparison of public and private hospitals. African Journal of business management , 4 (6), 962.
