Introduction
Today, attention is paid to healthcare quality and the processes that affect the relationships between nurses and patients. Some expectations depend on personal preferences, while most decisions are based on clearly identified guidelines. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) continue cooperating to ensure care safety and quality. This research paper analyzes the quality dimensions of providing health care promoted by the AHRQ, summarizes available programs, and explains technical and interpersonal processes and challenges.
Quality Dimensions for Health Care Provision
Healthcare provision constitutes many elements that generate a better quality of care. The AHQR and the IOM have created a framework comprising six items, which can be utilized to evaluate and provide health services to patients (Shenoy, 2021). First, attention is paid to safe care because patients are subject to various mistakes by healthcare personnel, which may result in injuries, polypharmacy, and hospital-acquired infections. Second, effective care is obligatory to use the latest scientific discoveries and improve care in terms of its efficiency and affordability. Third, patient-centered care introduces respectful and responsive care that considers the patient’s values (Shenoy, 2021). Next, timely care includes improving response times and reducing waits to positively affect the quality of care and prevent issues from worsening. In addition, care should be efficient to utilize resources to their maximum potential and reduce waste (Shenoy, 2021). Finally, equitable care means everyone should receive the same standards of care, regardless of age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, or geographical location.
Summary and Assessment of Goals
Different dimensions of healthcare use different metrics to assess and manage the quality of provided care. Safe care is assessed by the number of rehospitalizations as a result of actions undertaken by nurses and doctors (Shenoy, 2021). Complications after surgeries are other examples of quality metrics used in assessments. Subjective patient reviews can be used, though less frequently, serving as anecdotal evidence of perceptions of safe care. Effective care is evaluated with comparative analysis between old and new methods. The percentage of successful interventions, recovery rates, economic modeling, and a plethora of other parameters can be used to distinguish the benefits of some methods over others (Shenoy, 2021). For example, a new type of drug could be compared to the old one to see which one defeats the same disease quicker.
Patient-centered care considers itself with the perceptions of care from patients. Surveys can be used to understand the degree of patient involvement in their healthcare planning and management. The primary metrics used to assess the timeliness of care include waiting times and time spent per patient. If waiting times are low, care and services are within the required limits. The amount of time spent per patient can indicate both efficiency/inefficiency of care and thoroughness.
The efficiency of healthcare processes can be assessed by utilizing time and resources spent to achieve a specific result. The less it needs to fall under the standards of care in a particular country or state, the better (Shenoy, 2021). The benefits of improved care have to be weighed against the economic and logistical issues associated with providing it. Finally, equitable care can be measured both directly and indirectly: focusing on the amount of time and effort spent on individual patients regardless of their parameters or the incidence of specific ailments in population groups. A prevalence of non-specific diseases in one group versus the other can indicate a lack of equity.
Health Problems and Remediation Efforts
Patient-centered care involves getting the providers to engage the patient on a cultural basis. Cultural competence is a major issue in many hospitals, where the paradigm has not yet fully changed to inclusive efforts focused on the person. The first program to remedy competence issues focuses on LGBT adolescents, young adults, and adults and seeks to provide education and practice to providers (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHQR], 2014). The second program seeks to offer cultural sensitivity for patients with disabilities, particularly with aging disabilities. Both programs are similar in many aspects, particularly in what they try to achieve – increased motivation in personnel, improved medical knowledge, better cooperation between patients and nurses, and improved customer knowledge (AHQR, 2014). The difference between is in the area of holistic – a more encompassing approach addresses not only knowledge gaps but also healthcare disparities, to which members of LGBT are more prone.
Technical and Interpersonal Processes in Providing Quality Health Care
Technical and interpersonal processes are essential elements of providing quality healthcare. The technical bits revolve around what type of care is provided, what tools are used to diagnose the patient, the objective physical performance of a doctor or a nurse, and many other elements that physically contribute to a patient’s wellness (Baillieu et al., 2020). The interpersonal part, though often neglected, is just as important as the technical processes. If a patient does not like the doctor, finds them unlikeable, or feels uncomfortable in their care, it may result in poor communication, avoidance, or even plain sabotage of efforts to improve health. If a patient and a doctor have an amicable interpersonal relationship rooted in trust, it may result in improved health conditions patient. Though building trust between nurses and patients is beneficial, the former must always remain professional and remember their duties to others.
Conclusion
The offered evaluation proves the worth of care quality and safety for health facilities. It is not enough to share acquired knowledge and follow standards but to evaluate personal experiences and understandings. The AHRQ and the IOM promote clear quality dimensions that cannot be ignored in creating new programs and developing technical or interpersonal processes. There are certain benefits and challenges in building trust between patients and nurses, but high-quality care remains the main issue.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2014). Evidence-based practice center systematic review protocol: Improving cultural competence to reduce health disparities for priority populations. Web.
Baillieu, R., Hoang, H., Sripipatana, A., Nair, S., & Lin, S. C. (2020). Impact of health information technology optimization on clinical quality performance in health centers: A national cross-sectional study. PloS One, 15(7). Web.
Shenoy, A. (2021). Patient safety from the perspective of quality management frameworks: A review. Patient Safety in Surgery, 15(1). Web.