The healthcare industry has shown tremendous improvements over the last two decades. Apparently, these improvements have been brought about through technological innovations. Technological advancement has made it possible for health facilities to be efficient and effective in service delivery. From day to day, thousands of American citizens get high quality services from health facilities. That has enabled them to sustain good health or to restore their good health whenever they fall ill. In that respect, health care policies have been put in place to ensure that services being offered to patients are efficient and affordable (Obamacarefacts, 2016). However, the issue of quality still needs to be researched on seriously.
Quality related problems have been reflected in the manner in which the health care services are delivered. For instances, the health care system is characterized by overuse, underuse, and misuse of some services. In addition, high levels of errors are also experienced in service delivery (AHRQ, 2002). Notably, the main goal of any health care facility is to maintain robust services and focus on areas that need to be improved. In that case, the health facilities need to focus on quality care and reduction of medical errors (AHRQ, 2002). Presently, many initiatives have been put forward to help in quality improvement. Nevertheless, such initiatives still need to be measured to in order to establish opportunities that would guarantee improvement in quality. Therefore, research will need to be done so as to establish the parameters that can be used for that purpose.
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The issue of quality does not focus solely on quality measurement. Rather, it needs to focus on the provision of support as well as reforms that would ensure improvement of quality and reduction of costs (McClellan, 2013). In spite of the many challenges that clinicians and health organization face, many of the professionals are still committed to offer better health services to their patients. In addition, they are focused at ensuring that they support reforms that guarantee the safety of their clients. However, without lack of additional steps to support better patient care, there will be no progress in improvement of quality (McClellan, 2013). In addition, measurement will also not be effective. Thus, research needs to be formulated to focus on the necessary steps that ought to be taken to endorse better patient care.
In relation to the misuse, over use and underuse of health care related services, there is the need for research to establish the financial as well as the organizational factors that would promote quality (AHRQ, 2002). The research should also focus on how the various forms of payment, financial related incentives and institutional factors influences the culture of the health care environment. Studies needs to be conducted on how the aforementioned factors affect the various stakeholders in the health care system. Apparently, there has been applause on how telehealth helps in maintaining efficiency and cost-effective care services (AHA, 2016).
However, more research needs to be done using large samples, diverse geographical arenas and varying conditions and services. That would be helpful since it will aid policymakers to have a deeper insight on the benefits that telehealth can offer in maintaining efficiency and affordability of health care services. Research of that type would also help health providers and the various health systems to establish the differences in value between the telehealth services and the conventional patient care (AHA, 2016). Also, there needs to be additional research to justify the worth of telehealth in value oriented payment systems. That would be imperative when determining the value of this system particularly where financial incentives are used to improve quality as well as reduction of costs.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (AHRQ). (2002). Improving Health Care Quality. Rockville, MD 20852. Retrieved from http://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/factsheets/errors-safety/improving-quality/improving-health-care-quality.pdf.
American Hospital Association (AHA). (2016). Telehealth: Helping Hospitals Deliver Cost-Effective Care . Washington, DC: American Hospital Association.
McClellan, M. (2013). Improving health Care Quality: The Path Forward. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/improving-health-care-quality-the-path-forward/.
OBAMACARE FACTS. (2015). Health Care Facts: Why We Need Health Care Reform. OBAMACARE Alternative . Retrieved from: http://obamacarefacts.com/healthcare-facts/.
