Introduction
The transformational change enables healthcare providers to develop and implement large modifications to their daily operations to reach positive patient and employee outcomes. The approach contains research, revision of the systems, identification of the weak points, strategies approval, financial planning, and training for the involved personnel (Sligo et al., 2019). Healthcare organizations face various issues daily, and one of the most frequent is patients’ adherence and compliance to the prescribed medication and preventative recommendations. Consequently, the effectiveness of received treatment diminishes, increasing the return rates and costs and adding additional workload for physicians and practitioners (Anghel et al., 2019). This paper aims to discuss the transformational change applicable to solve the problem of patients’ adherence and compliance, forces, and policies necessary for its implementation.
Patient Adherence and Compliance to Prescribed Treatment Issue
The quality and safety of healthcare depend on providers, yet patients are also responsible for complying with the suggested treatment and adhere the prescribed medication. As the attention to individual healthcare and well-being increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, people expanded their awareness of health maintenance and self-help practices (American Public Health Association [APHA], 2021). The tendency is beneficial because a conscious, healthy lifestyle decreases the risks of developing chronic diseases. However, serious disadvantages occurred as self-educated individuals decided that they could cure themselves and started to undervalue professional physicians and practitioners (Sligo et al., 2019). As a result, many patients only reach for medical intervention when their conditions are unbearably severe and require long and expensive treatment. Furthermore, they adjust the prescribed medication dosage or prevention recommendations according to their needs or assumptions rather than following the exact instructions from a professional healthcare provider.
In a healthcare organization, the issue of inappropriate patient adherence and compliance to prescribed treatment results in higher work overload, lower quality of service, and a threat to client safety. In the case of non-chronic conditions, preventative measures are perceived as the least important; thus, individuals do not follow them despite their physician’s recommendation. In addition, patients might skip follow-up appointments for various reasons, such as the cost, difficulty commuting to the hospital, or forgetfulness, increasing the risk of developing chronic disease (Cutilli, 2020). From the healthcare organization’s perspective, enhancing education, monitoring, and policy-making can influence clients’ behavior. Thus, the transformational change should involve practitioners, physicians, and administrators – providers who directly interact and communicate with patients.
Transformational Change
The transformational change enables healthcare providers to develop and implement large updates on how the personnel interacts with clients and how the quality of service is assessed. Effective transformational change should cover every aspect of a patient’s interaction with a healthcare organization, from the initial visit to a follow-up appointment (Al-Noumani et al., 2019). The primary areas to modify are patient education and monitoring of adherence, as the former indicates the desired behavior and the latter demonstrates if it is achieved.
Patient education is performed directly by practitioners and physicians consultancy during appointments and indirectly by social initiatives, informative posters, and handouts. Transformational change in a healthcare organization requires professionals to revise how appointments and examinations are performed and what information about the importance of medication and prevention is shared during a visit. Then, the executives must approve an evidence-based update to the current approaches and integrate it. Cutilli (2020) states that “Nurses should provide education that is simple, patient-centered, and multi-modal to meet the health literacy needs of patients/caregivers” (p. 267). Influencing clients’ behavior towards adherence and compliance to prescribed treatment should be performed via an obligatory dialogue about the importance of medication and the consequences of ignoring the suggestions. Furthermore, nurses and physicians should encourage patients to ask questions and seek additional consultancy on self-regulating treatment.
Monitoring is another transformational change aspect that influences patients’ behavior toward medication adherence and treatment compliance. Modern technologies, such as mobile applications and Telehealth methods, entitle healthcare organizations to track their patients’ activities and help control conditions (Sligo et al., 2019). A transformational strategy includes monitoring treatment recommendations and educating clients to register how they take medication and perform recommended preventative treatment. An organization needs finances and professionals to integrate software and improve the monitoring options for diverse patients. Thus, involving the board of directors and educating the personnel about novelty is an inevitable part of transformational change.
Potential Policy Implementation
Transformational change that influences patient safety and the quality of service benefits from policy updates integration as the legislative or regulatory basis for modifications makes them obligatory to consider in daily practices. The severe outcome of patients’ lack of compliance with preventive procedures and medication adherence is the increased healthcare cost and workload for providers. Therefore, the misbehavior can be applied as a threat to public health and require attention from policymakers, similar to the strategies used for addressing COVID-19 pandemic outcomes (APHA, 2021). Healthcare organizations can also reach local administration to pass a policy that provides additional financial support for improving patient safety and quality of care.
Conclusion
The main directions for transformational change implementation are patient education and monitoring, and the direct participants are practitioners, physicians, and administrators. Intervention includes technology integration and additional training and requires professional assistance and finances. Indeed, using applications and software to monitor compliance combined with sufficient patient education completed during appointments should enable the clients to change their behavior towards medication and treatment recommendations. Policies should address insurance regulations as a motivational factor and provide healthcare organizations with resources to improve the quality of service and patient safety.
References
Al-Noumani, H., Wu, J. R., Barksdale, D., Sherwood, G., Alkhasawneh, E., & Knafl, G. (2019). Health beliefs and medication adherence in patients with hypertension: A systematic review of quantitative studies. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(6), 1045-1056. Web.
American Public Health Association. (2021). Addressing threats to public health practice. Web.
Anghel, L. A., Farcas, A. M., & Oprean, R. N. (2019). An overview of the common methods used to measure treatment adherence. Medicine and Pharmacy Reports, 92(2), 117. Web.
Cutilli, C. C. (2020). Excellence in patient education: Evidence-based education that “sticks” and improves patient outcomes. Nursing Clinics, 55(2), 267-282. Web.
Sligo, J., Roberts, V., Gauld, R., Villa, L., & Thirlwall, S. (2019). A checklist for healthcare organisations undergoing transformational change associated with large-scale health information systems implementation. Health Policy and Technology, 8(3), 237–247. Web.