Comparing The Dimensions Of Quality In Health Care

Dimensions of Quality in Health Care
The Institute of Medicine defines quality as ‘the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge’. The health system is composed of a few elementary segments – the overarching macrosystems, the front line clinical microsystems, and patient subpopulations needing attention (Sollecito & Johnson, 2013).
Amplifying health results and patient safety requires a patient-centered, well-designed health care organization which includes all encounters with the patient. This includes the clerks, paraprofessionals, nurses, and physicians. Good quality care performed by a competent individual cannot

However, outcome data is much more difficult to acquire and measure than a process or structure. Negative outcome data is usually easier to obtain and this can present a problem. Outcome measurements should be measured by both positive and negative outcomes in care. Positive measures in patient care outcomes could include a patient being able to return to work within 60 days after heart surgery or an improved quality of life after back surgery. Negative measures in patient care outcomes could include death during a hospital stay or readmission to the hospital within 30 days of discharge (Sollecito & Johnson,

Decreasing delays and backlogs of appointments can insure that from the time the patient schedules the need and the service is carried, there is less of a wait for the patient, which in turn, decreases costs and creates less waste in a health system. Demand for access can be predictable and health care organizations have found that analysis of demand data can improve an access system by forecasting based on the range of the provider practice and how that provider practices, as well as the population (Institute for Health Care Improvement [IHI], 2016).
Population Health Increasing quality improvement in population health is one of the definitive goals of a public health system. Population-based public health services are designed to assist in targeting and preventing risks that can affect entire populations. Health promotion and disease prevention can help not just with medical treatment, but aim at tobacco, alcohol, and drug use, as well as sedentary lifestyles, diet, and environmental factors (Institute for Health Care Improvement [IHI], 2016).