“Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time,” was aptly stated by American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator C. Everett Koop. While that statement is simple, the healthcare industry is farthest from that.
Like many industries, healthcare has some challenges that are endemic to that industry. Issues such as poor communication amongst teams, procedural workarounds and bias or preferential treatment to senior physicians can often have serious repercussions from misdiagnosed treatment to fatalities.
But all is not lost. In fact, some agencies and organizations have been able overcome challenges through frameworks that focus on the culture of quality.
Let’s take a further look.
The Center for Disease Control’s Key Recommendations to Protect Both the Safety and Quality of Patient Care
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are ten key activities that public or community-based health organizations should initiate to balance the needs of both safety and quality of patient care. These are:
- Monitor health status to identify and solve community health problems.
- Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
- Inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
- Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.
- Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
- Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
- Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
- Ensure competent public and personal health care workforce.
- Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services.
- Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.
A Key Example of Success
An example of a healthcare organization that has successfully applied a framework to foster a strong culture of quality is TeamSTEPPS. Developed by the US Department of Defense and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, their extensive framework is designed to help training medical teams to effectively process information and for Human Resources to improve patient outcomes. This is achieved through a strong focus on engaged leadership, collaboration and support and strong communication.
How to Use a Maturity Model for Measuring the Culture of Quality in Healthcare
Whether or not your organization has yet to develop a quality framework or has one in place, one way to determine how effective your quality culture is through a maturity model. Download our guide, Using Quality to Meet New Challenges: A Maturity Model for Measuring the Culture of Quality in Healthcare, where you will learn:
- How to accurately determine the maturity level of your culture of quality by key areas, including: program, methods, awareness, technology and conditions.
- The role of leadership in helping your organization remain compliant.
- The importance of trust amongst team members and throughout your organization.
Click here to access your guide today!
