Using as reference:

Title: Integrating Quality and Strategy in Health Care Organizations

Edition: 1st (2013) 

Author: Sadeghi, Sarmad / Shabot, M. Michael / Barzi, Afsaneh / Mikhail, Osama Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Book

ISBN: 978-0-7637-9540-5 

Read Chapter 5 (Sadeghi, Barzi, Mikhail, & Shabot) 

In not less than 250 words respond:

 It is your duty to find out what are some of the external variants that influence the quality with healthcare organizations including your hospital. List some of the external elements that affect your quality and why. You have a meeting to discuss quality initiatives and how to increase your level of impact from the external elements. How would you prepare and what would you present at the meeting as the new quality improvement director?  

In two different paragraph using their own references give your personal opinion to Marivette Bedoya and  Dianna Adair 

 Dianna Adair 

External elements that have an impact on quality include government organizations that set quality measurements and requirements, patient socio-demographics, environmental factors, and more. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ, provides 4 quality measurement sets in various healthcare settings to allow quality to be measured. The National Quality Measures Clearinghouse is another such organization that lists all evidence-based measures (Sadeghi, Barzi, Mikhail, & Shabot, 2013). While these organizations do not directly affect the quality of healthcare organizations, they do provide valuable information that allows for improvement of quality, which is technically external influence.

Environmental factors such as available resources and pricing and collaboration with other healthcare businesses in the area have a more direct impact on quality. Resource availability determines the quality of medical supplies, which can, in turn, impact quality of patient care. More durable and functional supplies results in better outcomes. Collaboration with other healthcare businesses affects quality by altering the company’s culture. An organization might change the way it handles conflicts or manages patient care based on its partnerships in order to remain compatible with partners (Mosadeghrad, 2014).

At a meeting as the quality director, I would first consider if increasing impact of external elements would be beneficial. Is increasing that impact always a good thing if external influences are negative? I would prepare a report based on the environmental situation of the community, socio-economic demographics, supply chain, local competition, and information regarding any partnerships our organization is involved in. It would be beneficial to discuss how we can use these factors to our advantage and change the narrative of negative impacts to reflect positively on our organization. Even when things are bad, PR firms can illustrate the positives of bad situations. As an example, say there is a high rate of deaths due to a communicable disease in the area. Our hospital knows that there isn’t much positive about that, but we could highlight our efficient testing methods and cutting-edge treatment options for affected individuals. This would raise morale among employees and let them know they are doing a good job with a bad situation and potentially increase quality of care due to the morale boost.

Regards,
Dianna

References:
Mosadeghrad A. M. (2014). Factors Affecting Medical Service Quality. Iranian journal of public health, 43(2), 210–220.
Sadeghi, S., Barzi, A., Mikhail, O., & Shabot, M. M. (2013). Integrating Quality and Strategy in Health Care Organizations. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Marivette Bedoya 

Several external variants that influence the quality of healthcare organizations are technology, economics, politics, government, and environmental factors. By effectively evaluating these factors, organizations can use them as tools to implement proper planning, education, training, management of resources, process and improve quality of services. Organizations must have current, reliable technology to provide patient care, improve and provide quality of services, compete and survive in the market, provide employment and meet certain obligations. By monitoring or staying updated, new technological devices, like patient data scanners, mobile technology and other medical equipment, an organization can create and maintain a system or environment that responds effectively to patients needs or concerns all while improving quality of care. 

The state of our economy directly ties into resource availability for healthcare systems (organizations/providers), accessibility, and affordability for patients. For instance, during an economic downturn, some employers may have to change their healthcare cost-sharing benefits in effort to reduce costs (Oner, 2016). A change in politics may also result in a change of regulations. As such, quality outcomes are largely based on the healthcare organizations ability to adapt to the change and stay in compliance with government regulations. The environment also largely influences quality in healthcare organizations because elements such as air and water quality, population growth, climate change, and wide-spread poverty, can increase health risks and the demand for health providers. 

Insurance companies can be an external variant that would impact the perception of quality at hospital organizations. In order to mitigate the external variant, I would implement a process to take the burden off the patient to handle rejected claims. Be in contact to let them know the course of action, and keep them up to date. The patient is more apt to be satisfied knowing the hoops and all of the actions that were taken on their behalf to ensure insurance pays for the services rendered.  As a director, I would work with the employees and providers to ensure that all charting is up-to-date and comprehensive to ensure that claims being challenged by carriers have a complete picture of the patient’s health. This would increase the approval process.

References:

Oner, N. (2016). Organizational and Environmental Factors Associated with Hospital Financial Performance: A Systematic Review. Retrieved from https://www.healthfinancejournal.com/index.php/johcf/article/view/100