The term healthcare quality refers to effective, safe, timely, efficient, patient-centered, and equitable provision of care services to the people who need them and patients suffering from certain conditions. In essence, it entails giving the right care to the right patient and the stipulated or the required time. Various domains to ensure quality delivery of care exists. The first objective of quality healthcare is to make care safer by minimizing the harm that may arise during the delivery of care. It also entails the promotion of effective communication and the subsequent coordination of care. Besides, it is necessary to strengthen the family and person engagement and recognition as partners during the care process. Promoting effective mechanisms for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases is an essential part of quality health care (Martin et al., 2015). Furthermore, quality healthcare requires working and collaboration with communities to promote best practices that ensure healthy living. Finally, making care affordable is part of the quality of healthcare because it increases the accessibility to care.
Safe care encompasses the care process that minimizes the occurrence of medical error and diagnostic errors that have been a serious impediment to patient’s safety ( Olson et al., 2019) . The aim is to reduce and to prevent risks, harm, and errors that occur to patients during the process of care delivery ( Altmiller & Hopkins-Pepe, 2019) . The pillar of safety care is continuous improvement driven by learning from adverse events and errors. Patient safety is at the center of quality care, which should be equitable, timely, efficient, and integrated. Clear policies, data geared towards safety improvement, leadership capacity, qualified healthcare professionals, and active patient involvement are essential for patient safety (Waring et al., 2016). In essence, safety requires the minimization of events that may bring harm to the patient. Medication errors, healthcare-associated infections, unsafe injection practices, unsafe surgical procedures, diagnostic errors, and blood clots are some of the errors and occurrences that affect health care safety. Eliminating the mentioned occurrences constitutes safety care.
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Analysis of Entities Responsible for Healthcare Quality and Safety
Various entities exist in the United States and across the globe to ensure the maintenance of safety and quality domains in healthcare. The first entity is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that bears the mandate and mission to ensure that safety, quality, effectiveness, and efficiency are adhered to in the process of care delivery for all Americans. The agency’s research helps health professionals and individuals make informed decisions that will enable them to improve the quality of care. Secondly, the American Society for Healthcare and Risk Management (ASHRM) promotes innovative and innovative strategies for the management of risks. It also promotes professionals leadership through recognition, publications, interactions, networking, and education with leading government agencies and care organizations. The next agency is the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF), which has the mandate and mission to improve patient safety during the process of anesthesia car continuously. The foundation encourages and conducts safety education and research, international and national exchange of ideas and information, and patients’ campaigns and programs.
California Patient Safety Action Coalition (CAPSAC) is another entity that is concerned with patient safety and care quality. The mission of the entity is to transform contemporary culture that promotes punishment and blame to one that is run by principles such as accountability and trust. The overall aim of CAPSAC is to promote a culture of fairness and justice, particularly in cases of medical reporting. Towards this end, it seeks to create awareness within the healthcare circles that occurrences of errors are inevitable, but there is the need to report all unintended events and errors. Reporting such errors renders the healthcare system safer because professionals will from strategies to avoid them once they are aware that they exist. The next entity is the Center for Health quality (CHCQ). It is responsible for regulatory oversight of health professionals, public and clinical health laboratories, and health facilities in general. Its objective is to secure effective, safe, and quality health care to all the citizens.
Regulatory Influence of Healthcare Quality and Safety on Care Environment
Quality and safety care is essential in promoting healthcare outcomes and better workflow processes. The first influence is the reduction in mortality rates. In most cases, healthcare facilities tend to struggle to provide the necessary emergency responses needed to manage certain conditions such as maternal complications. The common causes of higher mortality rates in certain areas include unmotivated staff, poor quality of medicines, poor documentation, and poor compliance to set medical and clinical procedures. The improvement of the quality of health using policy and regulatory framework has the propensity of improving the quality of care and patient safety, which are essential in minimizing mortality rates. It is worth noting that the quality of care is a vital component of the right to health. Delivering the health criteria that meets the quality standards is essential for the attainment of universal health coverage.
Quality and safety standards lead to motivated and competent healthcare professionals. The quality provision of care for all classes of patients within the health care facilities and environment requires the input of motivated and competent professionals and the availability of necessary resources that include essential medicines, clean water, supplies, and equipment. Furthermore, quality and safe care is critical to the improvement of emergency and evidence-based practices that ensure the availability of referral systems between various levels of care ( Lyle-Eldrosolo & Waxman, 2016) . It is important to have information systems for review and audit of different treatment practices. Another influence is the creation and maintenance of effective communication within the care environment. Effective communication is a pre-requisite for quality and safe care. A patient and their family should understand what is communicated by the healthcare professionals, meaning that a patient deserves emotional and social support of their choice within the care environment. Finally, safe and quality care is responsible for effective community engagement. In the contemporary setting, community engagement is a vital component of care. The perspectives of the patient and their families on the quality of care within a given facility normally influence the decisions to seek care.
The influence that my Christian Worldview has on your Commitment to Supporting Improved Healthcare Quality and Safety
As a Christian, my main objective in pursuing a career in healthcare was to improve the health of the individuals around me. I subscribe to the Biblical provisions that stipulate, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NKJV). The verse is essential in encouraging patients undergoing difficulty. It ensures that they find encouragement because quality care, coupled with the right spiritual mindset, often leads to better outcomes. Quality care and safety are consistent with the provisions and dictates of the Bible. Most hospitals and healthcare facilities are were started by Christians and Christian missionaries that aimed at healing not only the spirit but the body as well.
Healthcare is a branch of science; the system of modern science was founded by Christians. Christians have been deeply involved in the field of healthcare. The compassion of Christians in the field of healthcare dates back to the times that Rome was engulfed in a plague and the Black Plague in Europe. Christians steeped in to help the people who were suffering during the mentioned times. It makes a lot of sense because Christians should have empathy and compassion for the suffering of others. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Mathews 25:40, NKJV). It means that offering quality and safe care to people is in line with the dictates of the Bible. Therefore, healthcare workers should always strive to help those in need of care by providing quality and safe care as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ. The provision of quality and safe care qualifies as the highest form of compassion. Therefore, Christians should strive to set up healthcare services without caring what the cost is, as such is compatible with biblical teachings on caring about others and compassion.
High quality and low-cost care is consistent with the principle of care and compassion that the Bible advocates. As good stewards, Christians should insist on the passage of laws by the mandated bodies such as Congress that ensure affordable care to the majority of the citizens. The laws should provide incentives that keep the cost of care low and affordable. The affordable cost will enable the patient to save money while simultaneously getting quality care. The Bible posits, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:19, NKJV). It means that Christians are required to commit to their work and duties with integrity and honesty. Quality and safety are great hallmarks of honest service to humanity. Providing safe, quality, and affordable care to society is a requirement not only by the laws of the land but by the Bible.
References
Altmiller, G., & Hopkins-Pepe, L. (2019). Why Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) matters in practice. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 50 (5), 199-200.
Lyle-Eldrosolo, G.L., & Waxman, K.T. (2016). Aligning healthcare safety and quality competencies: Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), The Joint Commission, and American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Standards Crosswalk. Nurse Leader, 14 , 70-75
Martin, G. P., McKee, L., & Dixon-Woods, M. (2015). Beyond metrics, utilizing ‘soft intelligence for healthcare quality and safety. Social Science & Medicine , 142 , 19-26.
Olson, A., Rencic, J., Cosby, K., Rusz, D., Papa, F., Croskerry, P., & Colford, C. (2019). Competencies for improving diagnosis: an interprofessional framework for education and training in health care. Diagnosis, 6 (4), 335-341.
Waring, J., Allen, D., Braithwaite, J., & Sandall, J. (2016). Healthcare Quality and Safety: A Review of Policy, Practice and Research. Sociology of Health & Illness , 38 (2), 198-215.
