Quality the Drive Force of Healthcare

Essay title: _______Quality the Driving Force of Healthcare_____________________________

Introduction

"Better Health, Better Care, Lower Cost: Reforming Health Care Delivery" is the driving force of our nation (Department, 2011). Health Care cost has increased throughout the years, The Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 will provide tools to reduce waste, provide incentives, increase quality and safety, and make health care more affordable (HealthCare.gov, 2012). Hospitals, providers, and other entities need to meet standards set by The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to qualify for Pay for Performance and other Incentive Programs. Delivering quality care is no longer a fad rather expectation or mandatory requirement that can lead to litigation if failed to implement. However, does improving quality, increase or decrease the cost of health care provided?

Quality improvement (QI) has proven to increase better patient care, but not all improvement decrease cost. Deming's model Plan-do-study-act (PDSA) method has proven to be effective for providing a process that an organization can utilize to reduce unnecessary expenditures. The hospitals’ QI process has shown that patient’s delivery and services has improved resulting shorter stay for the patient (Care, 2011). Is it possible that the increase in revenue is due to the performance or the fact that the bed is available for the next consumers, which brings in more money?

The fact is poor quality results in patient readmission and longer stay, adverse effect does cost the provider and consumer more money (Bandolier). Hospitals and other entities might see an increase in savings, revenue or decrease in cost due to their proficient efforts of implementing a method and framework. These efforts can include preventive measure, reducing waste, electronic medical records, electronic physician orders, incentive programs and embracing quality improvement culture....