Although many hospitals give their patients the best possible care, there are also, unfortunately, far too many examples of patients who do not receive the level of care and attention that they deserve. In the United States alone, more than 18,000 patients die each year because they did not receive the right treatment or care while in a hospital or healthcare facility. Major changes need to occur in order to make treatment more effective, more efficient and more affordable to patients. Read on to learn more about some of the top ways that hospitals can improve the overall quality of healthcare.
Focus on Efficiency
One big problem with many hospitals and medical facilities is that there is very little emphasis on efficiency or affordability. Although medical professionals are working hard to visit as many patients as possible, diagnose them and treat them, without the proper infrastructure they are getting less done than they could. According to professor of health care management at Boston University Eugene Litvak, hospitals are not making it a priority to be efficient or save the time and money of staff, patients or insurance companies. That would need to change in order to improve care for patients.
Consider Hospital Chains in the Future
Although medical facilities are certainly more complicated and significant than hotels or restaurants, many leaders in the health care industry are thinking of ways to apply the efficiency of these types of chains to hospitals. In less time than you think, patients might be checking into hospital franchises or chains. These facilities will have streamlined practices with staff following the same procedures across the board to reduce the chance of human error when it comes to diagnosis and treatment.
Allow Nurses to Take the Lead
With over three million nurses in the United States, they are currently the largest professional group in the health care industry. Despite these large numbers, however, a mere six percent of hospital boards contain nurses. Many leaders believe that allowing nurses to make more decisions within hospitals could improve the care of patients. This is primarily because it is the nurses who spend so much time dealing directly with patients on a daily basis.
Provide Greater Security Measures for Patient Information
Many hospitals and medical facilities have switched from using paper records to using electronic patient records. There are many reasons why this is a good thing, but it does bring up a few additional problems as well. Electronic records can be hacked without adequate security measures, and in some cases the information can be switched, potentially harming the patient. In addition, many hospital staff do not have access to the information stored on electronic patient records, causing them to ask for assistance from upper-level staff and wasting time.
Although the healthcare system in the United States is impressive, there is still much that can be done to better the system. These are just a few of the steps that could be taken to improve patient care in hospitals.
– Brittany Robbins is a full-time writer for higher ed blogs and journals nationwide. Several schools offer degrees in the health field, including healthadministrationdegree.usc.edu and www.berkeley.edu.
