Long Term Care and Government Monitoring

Today’s society is more interested in the quality of care then they were years ago. As we move forward with health care reform, we will see an even stronger push for high quality care for in the most cost effective means. Achieving quality care is difficult at best and with government regulation, and management of healthcare the task is more difficult.

According to Improving quality and value in healthcare for frail older people by George, Sturgess, Purewell and Baxter, a significant impact in length of stay and the overall quality of care. A study was completed in England that specialized in the frail older person. According to the authors, there are several points that can affect the overall outcome and quality of care provided.

In this particular situation, comprehensive geriatric assessment contributes to better quality. The older adults are put into specialized units with a multidisciplinary approach to geriatric medicine. Other Items that were noted as being contributing factors to geriatric care are complications which often can be avoided by using the multidisciplinary approach in their care. The results of the article were to be used in determining an overall approach for government regulation in England’s healthcare system. Using the results, best practices were identified and used in helping to determine how to achieve the best results for care of the older adult.

Harrington wrote in an article titled Nursing home Quality: State Agency Survey Funding and Performance about long-term care and quality. Public health funding is a huge source of and there are significant factors that contribute to the overall quality provided to the clients.

According to Harrington, enforcement of regulations for surveying long term care facilities, is needed to help improve quality throughout the CMS system. States are responsible for enforcement of federal regulations but often are reluctant to enforce some regulations due to federal bureaucratic problems. Also,...