Managing Quality Assurance in the Workplace Essay
Introduction
The healthcare scene is changing drastically in a manner that has increased the need for the workforce. The Affordable Care Act and aging populations are the core drivers for the increased number of people admittance to healthcare (Jha et al., 2008). There are other provisions in the Affordable Care Act such as focusing on improved results as well as cost cutback essentiality have changed the way healthcare is distributed. Such changes are an indication of crucial modify in increased needs for healthcare workforce and increase healthcare jobs. Sectors and occupations related to healthcare are anticipated to experience the continued creation of swift job growth in next one decade (Goetzel et al., 2014).
How US May Manage Quality Assurance in the HealthCare Workplace
The US top priority thing is ways of transforming the healthcare delivery to ensure that all beneficiaries source quality health care that will be coordinated between healthcare workplaces and save resources with avoidance of errors. It is evident that capacity to have motivated and qualified workforce will be essential for the country to provide adequate health services (Longest, Rakich & Darr, 2008). As well, all levels of policy makers and planners in the United States must start to realize that capacity to realize the set goals will not be possible with Human Resource crisis. The government must increase healthcare financing, especially on specific programs. In fact, the united state government must maintain global goals toward ways to address retention of the healthcare workers via making sure there is ethical recruitment. As well, the country must ensure that there are available workforces that work and perform excellently to provide quality care (Jung & Latchem, 2012).
One crucial element to ensure success when it comes to improving performance and staff retention is considering approaches that tend to be evidence-based. Also, the government may consider informing the policy-makers on the best interventions that would be effective under any given circumstance and for a given workforce (Poghosyan et al., 2012). Retention and performance in the country will have significance within the healthcare facilities. For the case of planners and policymakers at the national level, the qualified and sufficient workforce will guarantee ways of attaining well-functional health system that will make a contribution toward improved healthcare outcomes. As well, within individual healthcare workers, the government must ensure that there is a clear work circumstance that will well match the family and personal motives or conditions (Buerhaus et al., 2006).
The United States must consider interventions that will be well designed on the analysis of determining the influence of the health worker performance. The government must ensure that there is an implementation of interventions (process and inputs) and offer outputs (anticipated results) about improved working conditions, improved staff retention, and improved motivation (Longest, Rakich & Darr, 2008). In turn, such will results to impacts of intervention regarding measurable development on productivity, availability, responsiveness, and competence of health workers. The effect will have a positive influence on the worker’s performance about the intervention outcomes. In return, improved performance will contribute to improved health conditions (Buerhaus et al., 2006).
In addition, the government must recognize that improved performance may be easily achieved through focusing on the staff availability, productivity, competences, and responsiveness. The government must account for indicators of qualitative and quantitative nature (Jha et al., 2008). The government must consider evaluation and monitoring process of all levels of outputs and effects of interventions. The US government must as well evaluate the process of implementing the technical and financial inputs since they are determinant of intervention success. Within the level, health care policy makers, managers, and planners have a lesson to learn especially on the framework that monitor and evaluate human resource system (Poghosyan et al., 2012).
On the other hand, shortages of staff tend to lower accessibility of health programs and services that impact the health outcomes. Retention of health workers mainly in the countryside areas of the US needs to be a high agenda of the Government. In the US countryside areas, there are few health workers and any loss of health workers tend to contribute to inaccessibility of health services harshly. According to research, low nurse to patient ratios cause difficulties and poor patient outcomes (Buerhaus et al., 2006). In fact, shortage of staffs tends to cause more risks and stress since more workers tend to leave or remain absent from workplaces. To solve this issue, the government needs to engage in a program that will target migration of health care workers which will have a positive impact on staff situation. The United States is currently faced with increased demand for health care which has been caused by aging population. This provides opportunities for other migrant health workers to seek employment in the country (Longest, Rakich & Darr, 2008).
To provide exceptional employment opportunities in in-demand allied health fields, the United State government needs to prepare the pre-service training program for the healthcare graduates. The government needs to invest in various medical pre-service training lessons that will be curative-oriented. Students will be dedicated to start investing in healthcare careers while in the tertiary facilities since they will be well prepared for their works (Poghosyan et al., 2012). Also, the government needs to come up with system related program that will have an indirect positive impact on staff retention. The government may legislate appropriate planning and policy within national levels that will deal with limitation and delays in deployment and limitations of staffs (Longest, Rakich & Darr, 2008). In fact, the government must deal with all inadequate staffing deployment laws that are causes of poor distribution of staffs. As well, the government must work toward dealing with insufficient information systems which are the main cause of ghost workers, lack of motivation and coordination with education sectors (Shi & Singh, 2014).
The government must research factors that impact job satisfaction. In this case, financial issues are crucial where by the government may consider raising salaries for the staffs. As well, the government must foster organization support, set control upon working life and medical practices, offer career opportunities and ensure there are professional development paths. The government must ensure that there is better pay, job security, and recognition of workforce, better working conditions and relationships with the healthcare organizations (Poghosyan et al., 2012).
Improved planning, use, and deployment of healthcare workers by the United States government would guarantee reduced stress among the healthcare staffs which would contribute to improved staff retention. This is a strategy that would demand capacity within the national level, collaboration with healthcare professionals and efficient regulatory framework. Good performance among healthcare workers would be facilitated by the government support for a better working condition. This will entail more than having sufficient supplies and equipment (Jha et al., 2008). Other issues that may be considered are better decision making and excellent information exchange process and deal with the workload, support services, and required infrastructures. Quality management may be used by the government as a strategy toward improving quality of services in an integrated way. Such an approach may be directed toward improving the quality of healthcare service with a focus on teamwork, systems, and clients as well as measurement and processes. Quality management may be evaluated and may lead to certification, licensure, and accreditation of the healthcare facilities. There are other quality assurance strategies that the US government may undertake such as internal processes and utilization of models such as the total quality managements, quality cycles, quality audit and management by results (Buerhaus et al., 2006).
On the other hand, the government may use performance improvement approach that is directed toward improving performance at the contact point of the patients and health workers. This will be achieved through addressing system and individual performance issues. Performance improvement and quality assurance will require motivated, skilled and well-dedicated employees. The systems have to be based on local issue analysis as well as the generation of solutions. These approaches will provide opportunities for empowering employees since they will be able to gain control of their work (Poghosyan et al., 2012).
Conclusion
Quality care and relevant healthcare workplace will be achieved within an enabling environment where there are strong leadership and committed management. As well, skills and knowledge of the workers to consider working together, analyze and act on the information will be a crucial thing to facilitate quality assurance. The US government has to strengthen quality assurance and performance management initiative that would attain health worker productivity, responsiveness, and competence.
References:
Buerhaus, P. I., Donelan, K., Ulrich, B. T., Norman, L., & Dittus, R. (2006). State of the registered nurse workforce in the United States. Nursing Economics, 24(1), 6.
Goetzel, R. Z., Henke, R. M., Tabrizi, M., Pelletier, K. R., Loeppke, R., Ballard, D. W., … & Serxner, S. (2014). Do workplace health promotion (wellness) programs work?. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(9), 927-934.
Jha, A. K., Orav, E. J., Zheng, J., & Epstein, A. M. (2008). Patients’ perception of hospital care in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(18), 1921-1931.
Jung, I., & Latchem, C. (2012). Quality assurance and accreditation in distance education: Models, policies and research. Routledge.
Longest, B. B., Rakich, J. S., & Darr, K. (2008). Managing health services organizations and systems. Baltimore, MD: Health Professions Press.
Poghosyan, L., Lucero, R., Rauch, L., & Berkowitz, B. (2012). Nurse practitioner workforce: A substantial supply of primary care providers. Nursing Economics, 30(5), 268.
Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2014). Delivering health care in America. Jones & Bartlett Learning.