Two Different Methods of Quality Measurement - Essay Example

? Research Paper on Methods of Healthcare Quality Measurement Two Different Methods of Quality Measurement Quality measurement is one of the most important topics in the healthcare industry nowadays. There are several structured and unstructured methods to measure the various quality components. The healthcare system still fails to find a unified measurement method to assess the various quality elements. The complexity involved in the healthcare system is creating difficulty to evaluate the service quality. Structural quality measurement and process quality measurement are the two different quality measurement methods or tools that are utilized in the organization’s quality measurement process. The following brief discussion will help the readers to understand the characteristics and aspects of these two measurement processes. Structural Quality Measurement Structural quality measurement generally comprises the resource characteristics in a healthcare system including groups of practitioners, individual practitioners, geographic location, accessibility of services, and systems of care. This structural quality measurement assesses the presumed capacity of practitioners (Donaldson, 1999). It helps to provide quality health care. The structural quality measurement helps the healthcare professional to assess specialty board certification, licensure and training structures. This measurement system helps to provide facility such private accreditation, safe physical attributes, government certification and effective procedures and policies. Process Quality Measurement The present quality of care literature is enriched with performance measurement discussion. It is one of the current terminologies that are related to quality measurement. Process quality performance may include service, convenience, timeline and interpersonal aspects of care. This process quality performance measurement provides awareness and information to the patients. Moreover, it helps the patients to share their views and advice that can help in the decision making process. Example These two quality measurement methods are utilized in healthcare as important quality measurement tools. The following discussion will reveal the effectiveness of these two methods in the improvement of health care institution. Structural Quality Measurement in Healthcare The structural quality measurement method helps to assess nursing home care. It is evident that several complexities involved in the health care organization structure affect the quality of care. Due to the complexity, the health care institutions cannot follow the rules and regulations effectively (Penson & Wei, 2006). Therefore, in order to improve the organizational structure and level of care, several health care institutions implement the structural quality measurement process. A majority of patients in nursing homes used to file complaints against inadequate nursing care. The structural quality measurement helps the nurses or other health care staff to improve their skills and nursing care abilities. This process provides effective facility, training and staffing for the employees in a nursing home. Availability of patient care, nursing home workforce, and effective training programs needs careful review to judge the quality of care. Process Quality Measurement in Healthcare In nursing homes, several frequent problems include hazardous and uncertain environments, inadequate care plans and unsanitary food. In this kind of situation, process quality measurement methods are implemented in order to overcome the issues and improve the service and performance of healthcare. In terms of quality of the clinics, these measurements generally focus on the management and diagnosis of the diseases. It also addresses preventive care such as disease screening (Brown & Remenyi, 2004). The results of these measurements are provided to the employees. It helps the employees to choose the health plans. A majority of healthcare systems provide consumer report cards. It helped the healthcare institutions to standardize the format of the organization process. Technical aspects of process quality measurement in healthcare include appropriateness of therapy, accuracy and timeliness of diagnosis. It is important for the healthcare institutions to consider process quality measurement for the preferences of the patients in a nursing home. Evaluation Measurement of process or structural quality is the first, initial and important step that improves end of life care. The major objective of this study was to implement an instrument that can measure the quality in the health care. Measurement of quality in health care majorly depends upon the organizational structure and process quality. Structural quality measurement process helps the organization to bring effectiveness in the quality of care. The structural quality measurement helps the managers to maintain the quality factor in the organizational structure. The organization can provide effective training programs for both the managers and the employees. The patients or clients are the valuable assets for a healthcare institution. It is important for the organizations to take care of the patients through effective quality of services. It will help the organizations to increase their market share and business output. The healthcare operation process is full of huge complexity. An effective quality measurement instrument or approach is required to overcome the issues. Several issues and chaos involved in organizational structures can create a huge effect on the business output of the organization. Moreover, due to this inadequate patient service, a negative mindset of the patients or clients can be created. Therefore, the majority of healthcare institutions generally implements this process to overcome the organizational structural issues (Aparasu, 2011). On the other hand, the process quality measurement approach helps the healthcare organizations to overcome several workplace hazards and problems related to the organization’s operational process. Process quality management helps a healthcare institution to improve its diagnosis and management of several critical diseases. It is evident that several organizations are facing the problems of wrong diagnosis of diseases. Several leading global organizations have to experience these issues due to the complexity of the process. Due to advanced technology and an effective human resource management system, several organizations are trying to overcome these issues. The process quality measurement tool is the invention of an effective human resource research. It helps the healthcares, doctors of healthcare institutions, patients, nurses, healthcare professionals and staff to control and monitor the quality factor associated with the operational process of care. After analyzing and evaluating the characteristics of structured and process quality management, it can be stated that the healthcare institutions need to evaluate their quality measurement aspects on a frequent basis in order to maintain a healthy organization environment. References Aparasu, R. (2011). Research methods for pharmaceutical practice and policy. London: Pharmaceutical Press. Brown, A., & Remenyi, D. (2004). Proceedings of 3rd European Conference in Research Methods. London: Routledge. Donaldson, M. (1999). Measuring the quality of healthcare. New York: National Academic Press. Penson, D., & Wei, J. (2006). Clinical research method for surgeons. New York: Springer. Read More