Quality in healthcare is an emerging global concern that has resulted in changes in the way things are carried out in a healthcare institution. The changes are primarily associated with the processes that need to be implemented to achieve a desirable outcome while being repeatable with minimal error. Ogrinc et al. (2015) define quality improvement in healthcare as the process in which a hospital can boost safety and value in healthcare through completeness and precision by its workforce. The article shall entail a discussion on how to complete a quality improvement and a clinical case issue that would benefit from implementing quality improvement.
ISO is the most common quality improvement program that many organizations, irrespective of their size, have turned to. ISO offers a range of standards that can be implemented across various points in a single firm. ISO 9001 is more practical in a healthcare setting as it focusses on meeting the customer needs and enhancing satisfaction. Nutburn (2019) discusses the steps a company can use to get an ISO certification. The first step to certification is choosing the right standard for the organization. As previously stated, ISO has many standards, all of which represent a particular area of expertise. Getting the right standard ensures that all activities are geared towards achieving it. This is then followed by choosing a certification body. Each country has a certifying body given mandate by ISO to accredit institutions within its borders.
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The next step is crucial as it involves getting all the stakeholders on board. This can be achieved via training and development courses into the ISO certification process, together with the merits and demerits of being certified. After this, conduct an internal audit to ensure that the activities conform to the ISO standards. The auditors will provide the firm with valuable feedback that will be key in developing a management system to curb any inconsistencies observed from the audit. Once everything is smoothed out, an external audit from the accreditation body then carries out its assessment and certify the firm if it meets the guidelines.
While many articles have been published over the past few years in regards to quality in healthcare, ‘To Err is Human: Building a safer Health system’ released in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine, paints a clearer picture on the issue of healthcare. In the article, an estimate of 44 000 to 98 000 deaths in the United States every year is caused by medical errors. These errors affirm that quality is lacking in the healthcare sector. Makary and Daniel (2016) compound this data by suggesting that an estimated 250 000 deaths each year are associated with human errors. The authors further conclude that medical error is the third most common cause of death in the United States of America.
Medical errors can happen anywhere in the continuum of service, ranging from diagnosis to treatment and even surgery. All of these areas directly affect patients’ outcomes. For instance, the diagnosis of mental illnesses is usually quite tricky. The American Psychiatric Association in 2013 acknowledges this in their book, and despite there being clear cut conditions for a diagnosis in the manual, the accuracy of interpretation lies more on the clinician (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). With this in mind, a patient can be misdiagnosed and receive treatment for a different condition. This can result in unintended side effects, delayed time to get better, and maybe even worsen the condition if left unchecked for a significant amount of time. The adoption of ISO 9001 in healthcare can help mitigate the issue as it entails documentation with frequent audits that ensure the activities conform to the requirements. More so, the frequent training required for all the workers can aid in ensuring the staff adopts new guidelines as they are formulated, which can, in turn, reduce the medical errors.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. BMC Med , 17 , 133-137.
Makary, M. A., & Daniel, M. (2016). Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ , 353 , i2139.
Nutburn, M. (2019, August 21). ISO certification process: 6 key steps . Retrieved from https://www.british-assessment.co.uk/insights/6-steps-to-iso-certification/ .
Ogrinc, G., Davies, L., Goodman, D., Batalden, P., Davidoff, F., & Stevens, D. (2015). SQUIRE 2.0 (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence): revised publication guidelines from a detailed consensus process. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing , 46 (11), 501-507.
