Improving Healthcare Quality: Challenges and Strategies for Aims

This essay examines the challenges and improvements in achieving the six aims of healthcare quality—safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, efficiency, timeliness, and equity—within a healthcare organization. While progress has been made in areas like patient safety and patient-centered care, challenges persist, particularly in ensuring equitable care due to biases related to ethnicity, race, income, or gender. The essay also addresses issues of timely and efficient healthcare, highlighting wastage of resources and harmful delays. It emphasizes the role of nurse leaders in promoting teamwork and addressing drug shortages to improve patient safety. Inter-professional collaboration is identified as a key factor in reducing medical errors and meeting diverse patient needs, though limitations exist due to insufficient teamwork. The essay concludes by affirming the IOM's six aims as a useful framework for advancing healthcare quality and safety. Desklib offers a platform to access this essay and more study resources.

Running head: IMPROVING QUALITY 1
Improving Quality
Author
Institution

IMPROVING QUALITY 2
Improving Quality
The ultimate objective of the United States healthcare is improving health to everyone.
However, the healthcare system faces significant challenges. Crossing the quality chasm in
improving the quality of healthcare described broader quality issues and defines six aims in
which the care should be. These aims include effective, safe, patient-centered, efficient, timely
and equitable healthcare (Briere, 2001). Regarding this aims, however, there have been
significant improvements that have been encountered in the healthcare. In a healthcare
organization, they have made significant progress toward achieving the outlined aims of the six
aims. This includes safe healthcare for the patient. They have achieved this by ensuring there are
minimal injuries to the patients. It is facilitated by putting more focus on improving patient
safety by reducing medical errors.
Furthermore, in terms of patient-centeredness, the organization has created a platform
enabling the interaction between the patient and the professionals (Dzau 2016). Moreover, they
have encouraged personnel trait that comprises the quality of service that includes compassion,
empathy and respect to the patient. Also, the institution has encouraged actions that demonstrate
the appropriate quality of service that includes appropriate information to the patients. However,
there are still areas that present challenges to the healthcare in the achievement of this aims. In
regard to providing impartial care for patients has been a challenge. This is due to biases that still
exist in relation to ethnicity, race, income, ethnicity or gender (McClellan, 2013). The bias is
manifested by discrimination targeted to the population that is restricted to accessing healthcare.
Furthermore, the most evident patient receives differential treatment based on their personal
characteristics. This poses a major major challenge in delivering quality healthcare.

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Additionally, the healthcare systems face challenges in terms of timely and efficient
healthcare. Although there has been a significant improvement in the quality of healthcare
regarding the two aims there have been various challenges. Meanwhile, there have been barriers
in regard to avoiding wastage in the organization. There has been wastage of equipment, ideas,
supplies and energy in the organization (Kaushal, Bates & Landrigan, 2001). There has been
wastage of time that has resulted in harmful delays for both patient and the caregiver.
Meanwhile, as a nurse leader, I could campaign for effective teamwork between the health care
professional who delivers care to the patients. This is by motivating them to accomplish the
desired goals and objective of ensuring there is quality healthcare to the patients. Thus, when
every member works towards ensuring this goal will lead to improving the organization’s
achievement of these aims.
Meanwhile, the healthcare organization faces safety issues. This includes drug and
medical shortage supply. The organization is forced to delay major operation and treatment due
to the shortage of drugs. This, in turn, threatens the safety quality to the patients. However, there
should be adequate drug supply and in relations to the crossing the chasm six aims, this can be
addressed through timely care. It comprises of ensuring that there adequate manufacture of drugs
and delivery to the patients.
Inter-professional collaboration has significant in improving the quality and safety of
care. It has helped the organization deliver quality healthcare. The collaboration of healthcare
professionals has assisted in reducing medical errors in the organization (Bosch & Mansell
2015). Moreover, improving the quality of care and meeting the diverse population needs.
Meanwhile, there has been a limitation in inter-professional collaboration. This is due to the lack

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of functioning sufficiently as a team. Thus, it is essential to point out the IOM's six aims provides
a useful framework for improving and advancing healthcare.

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References
Bosch, B and Mansell, H. (2015). Interprofessional collaboration in health care. Retrieved from:
https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/857823
Briere, R. (2001). Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st
century. Washington, DC.
Dzau V, J. (2016). Improving the Safety and Quality of Health Care: The Impact of the National
Academy of Medicine on Research and Collaboration. Retrieved from:
https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/news/events/ahrq-research-summit/
dzau-summit2016.pdf
Kaushal R, Bates DW and Landrigan C. (2001). Medication errors and adverse drug events in
pediatric inpatients. Retrieved from:
https://psnet.ahrq.gov/resources/resource/2146/Medication-errors-and-adverse-drug-
events-in-pediatric-inpatients--
McClellan, B, M. (2013). Improving Health Care Quality: The Path Forward. Retrieved from:
https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/improving-health-care-quality-the-path-forward