ESSAY: Quality of care. heath care advances

Assignment
Complete ALL of the bullet points below:
• Definitions of the quality of medical care are no longer left to clinicians who decide for themselves what technical performance constitutes “good care.” What are the other dimensions of quality care and why are they important? What has changed since the days when “doctor knows best?”
• Quality in medical care may be defined as achieving the greatest benefit at the lowest risk. How have the priorities of our health care system and the allocation of resources addressed this goal?
• Contrast the definitions of implicit and explicit criteria in assessing health care quality. How is each type of criterion useful in quality assessment?
Please submit one APA formatted paper between 1000 – 1500 words, not including the title and reference page. The assignment should have a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook.

Young K.M. & Kroth. P.J. (2018) Health Care USA: Understanding its organization. (9th
ed). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett learning.

Criteria
Does Not Meet 0%
Approaches 70%
Meets 80%
Exceeds 100%
Content Weight: 30%
0 points
Topic is inappropriate to assignment, inaccurate understanding of concepts, unclear and difficult to understand; does not address many assignment requirements. Information has weak or no connection to the assignment topic.
21 points
Topic is mostly covered and appropriate to assignment, but does not adequately demonstrate accurate understanding of concepts; mostly clear and understandable; lacks some of the requirements of the assignment description and/or provides little detail; Information relates to the main topic, but few details and/or examples are given.
24 points
Topic is covered completely and appropriate to assignment; overview of key concept dimensions is evident; clear and understandable; addresses all of the requirements of the assignment description, with adequate attention to detail.
30 points
In-depth coverage of topic; outstanding clarity and explanation of concepts demonstrated in information presented; approaches assignment with depth and breadth, without redundancy, using clear and focused details.
/ 30
Organization Weight: 25%
0 points
Organization is confusing and interferes with reader’s ability to follow ideas. Weak or no introduction of topic or purpose is unclear, weak, or missing. Conclusion lacks a summary of topic, or is missing or irrelevant.
17.5 points
Ideas are sometimes disorganized or irrelevant; Flow is sometimes choppy; somewhat clear organization. Basic introduction that states topic but is presented in an uninteresting way. Conclusion contains basic summary of topic without final concluding ideas, may inappropriately introduces new information.
20 points
Structures ideas in a coherent, organized order that has good flow and an obvious framework. Proficient introduction that is interesting and states topic. Conclusion contains good summary of topic with credible concluding ideas and introduces no new information.
25 points
Exceptionally clear, logical, mature, and thorough organization permitting smooth flow of ideas; Introduction that grabs interest of reader and states topic in clear, unambiguous terms. Excellent concluding summary with succinct and precise ideas that impact reader.
/ 25
Logic/Argument Weight: 15%
0 points
Demonstrates little logical reasoning for the claims and thoughts within assignment; Many claims are weak or illogical.
10.5 points
Lacks some logical reasoning for the claims and thoughts within the assignment; Some claims are weak.
12 points
Uses solid logical reasoning for the claims and thoughts within the assignment.
15 points
Provides exemplary logical reasoning for the claims and thoughts within the assignment.
/ 15
Support Weight: 20%
0 points
Lacks support; Uses poor sources for references; Citations lack credibility, relevance, or academic quality or are not current; Does not meet the minimum number of required citations in assignment description. APA format and style are not evident.
14 points
Provides weak support or not enough support; Citations are not consistently credible, current, relevant or academic; Meets the minimum number of required citations in assignment description Missing APA elements; in-text citations, where necessary, are used but formatted inaccurately and not referenced.
16 points
Provides sufficient support with credible, current, relevant academic citations; Meets the minimum number of required citations in assignment description. ; In-text citations and a reference page are present with few format errors. Mechanics of writing are reflective of APA style.
20 points
Provides very strong support from credible, current, relevant, academic citations; Meets or exceeds the minimum number of required citations in assignment description. Accurate citations and references are presented. No APA errors are evident.
/ 20
Quality of Written Communication Weight: 10%
0 points
Style and voice inappropriate or do not address given audience, purpose, etc. Word choice is excessively redundant, clichéd, and unspecific. Inconsistent grammar, spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing. Surface errors are pervasive enough that they impede communication of meaning.
7 points
Style and voice are somewhat appropriate to given audience and purpose. Word choice is often unspecific, generic, redundant, and clichéd. Repetitive mechanical errors distract the reader. Inconsistencies in language, sentence structure, and/or word choice are present.
8 points
Style and voice are appropriate to the given audience and purpose. Word choice is specific and purposeful, and somewhat varied throughout. Minimal mechanical or typographical errors are present, but are not overly distracting to the reader. Correct sentence structure and audience-appropriate language are used.
10 points
Style and voice are not only appropriate to the given audience and purpose, but also show originality and creativity. Word choice is specific, purposeful, dynamic and varied. Free of mechanical and typographical errors. A variety of sentence structures and effective figures of speech are used. Writer is clearly in command of standard, written, academic English.
/ 10
Rubric Total Score
Total
/ 100
Overall Score

Overall Score
Level 1
0 points minimum
Level 2
70 points minimum
Level 3
80 points minimum
Level 4
100 points minimum

ANSWER

Quality of Care: Health Care Advances

Q1 Definitions of the quality of medical care are no longer left to clinicians who decide for themselves what technical performance constitutes good care. What are the other dimensions of quality care, and why are they important? What has changed since the days when a doctor knows the best?

            Quality in healthcare is a term referring to the improvement in the individuals’ health conditions as a result of providing medical services. In attaining this, the healthcare facilities should ensure timely delivery of services, enhancement of patient safety, and the improvement in care efficiency, as well as ensuring the healthcare needs are patient-centered (Hwang et al., 2013). However, there is more coverage in healthcare that are equally important. Among these include the certification and accreditation of hospitals, including other healthcare facilities, which offer community health services. The activity provides a foundation with which hospitals and other healthcare facilities provide quality care services.

           One of the dimensions of quality care is accreditation. Accreditation forms a foundation to develop a standard for healthcare delivery. The dimension is not a quality measure, however, since a facility may be accredited, but still provides healthcare services that do not meet the set quality standards. Still, accreditation informs the kind of dimension that ensures such activities as screening or patient examination are delivered to the patient. According to Hwang et al. (2013), accreditation is also used to explain the competence of a given healthcare profession or institution in the implementation of their previous roles as well as the level of effort the said institution makes towards providing excellent healthcare services. 

           The second dimension informing quality care is the measurement of the performance and improvement of clinical quality. The dimension is known as the medical superiority measure and is used to estimate the care extent an institution takes, and the appropriateness of the provision (Mohammed et al., 2016). On the other hand, independent measures seek to demonstrate the delivery of healthcare as well as the procedural charges involved. This viewpoint is essential as it displays the sustainability of the care process and outcome of efforts used to boost performance with time.

           The quality of care is also influenced by another dimension, which is the assurance of patient safety and incidences prevention. For instance, the board of management in healthcare organizations focuses on evading harms and risks at times, while considering the outcomes and limitations to observing the shortcomings when conducting critical medical processes/procedures (Hwang et al., 2013). In turn, this may have significant negative implications on the provision of healthcare. Therefore, rather than focusing on the causes of these risks, the dimension shifts towards assisting healthcare professionals in defining the risks, while understanding the causes of these healthcare risks.

           Previously, “doctors know best” was a popularly used phrase, and the period was characterized by patients being denied opportunities to select types of treatment they preferred. However, the era is long gone as major reforms have been made since. The reforms comprise granting patients the autonomy to choose the type of medical attention they preferred (Mohammed et al., 2016). Currently, doctors are expected to only provide a range of treatment options available to the patients, and leave them to choose their preference without subduing them. Numerous guidelines have been formulated to assist patients in the selection of preferable and better treatment options. 

Q2 Quality in medical care may be defined as achieving the greatest benefit at the lowest risk. How have the priorities of our health care system and the allocation of resources addressed this goal?

           A wider range of items are covered by resources in healthcare, and they are important in the healthcare industry. These resources include healthcare materials, manpower, and other items, which facilitate the provision of healthcare whole (Alam, 2016). The healthcare quality is determined by the allocation of these healthcare materials, as well as how they are utilized. In this case, to enhance transparency in allocating healthcare resources, healthcare organizations should be put in place. According to Alam (2016), the efficient allocation of resources guarantees that the objective of healthcare providers in offering quality care services is realized. The allocation of resources is conducted by taking into consideration the primary priorities of various facilities. Prioritizing departments is conducted by considering the sections of institutions, which play a crucial role in providing quality care services.             Accordingly, delays in the system of healthcare impact negatively on the quality of services provided. In this case, therefore, the allocation process should take into consideration the time allocated. One of the reasons is that all the healthcare sections depend on these resources to offer their health care services (Alam, 2016). The availability and accessibility, therefore, of these resources are important. For example, it is common knowledge in the provision of medical care that sterilizers are a basic necessity, especially in the surgical sections as they are used to avoid exposing the patients to other healthcare…