Quality of Care

The term "quality of care" in the healthcare world is not as straightforward as it may sound. It refers to, as might be guessed, the level of expertise, efficiency, and efficacy of medical care given in a specific instance or as a whole in a studied population over time. In this latter regard, quality of care means the overall improvement in and maintenance of health based on the resources (time money, technology, effort) expended. To me, quality of care means performing appropriate and advantageous procedures when and only when they are called for, and can be both viewed and measured as the efficiency of care -- the more effective a treatment is, especially as it uses fewer resources, the higher the quality of care being delivered.

The government has a public safety due to monitor the quality of care being delivered in this country, and it is their responsibility to ensure that care is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable (IOM 2009). Piper (2008) claims that "in the same way that food, shelter, and clothing are not rights, neither is health care" (pp. 10). While basically valid, this claim is disingenuous and actually self-defeating. While we might not have a "right" to any of these things, the government does provide food, shelter and clothing to those in need, and not just on an emergency basis (as is the case with health care). Health goes to basic security of life, and the government has an inherent duty to protect its citizen's lives.

The Qulity Chasm report has been used to change healthcare by advocating a shift in primary care to a more developed infrastructure via systems demonstrations. The report affected both policy and ethics in its finding on lowered safety levels due to insufficient staffing capabilities (IOM). Nursing education has changed due to the enhanced standards and new methodologies suggested by the report.

References

IOM. (2009). "Crossing the Quality Chasm: The IOM Health Care Quality Initiative." Accessed 18 September 2009. http://www.iom.edu/CMS/8089.aspx

Piper, S. (2008). Top Ten Myths of American Health Care and Crisis. Pacific Research Institute. Accessed 18 September 2009. http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/docLib/20081020_Top_Ten_Myths.pdf