DB # 43

First one

Brianna Odom 

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I have been given the task of choosing just one health care item/agenda to focus on for my organization, that improves quality of care for my patient population, with minimal initial financial impact, the one health care item I have chosen to focus on is, the increase in chronic conditions. As stated in the article, the increase in the chronic conditions present in our population is a consequence of the revolutionary advances in medical science and technology, due to the increase in life expectancy. It is more common for those 65 years and older to have such chronic illnesses and typically have more than one. This in sense is costly these consumers a huge amount of financial burdens to seek care. This is the most important item in health care because it is not only costly for consumers, third-party payers, and the health care organization in terms of money, but also it is costing the patient to have a lower quality of life because it is often to have chronic pain with these conditions. In which is causing patients to not seek the proper medical care for the conditions because they don’t like hospitals, they aren’t taken seriously by pracitioners, or they are not able to pay the bills.  The steps my organization is going to take to address this issue is, first, get with community leaders and figure out a way to educate the population on what chronic conditions are, how to prevent them, when to seek care, and how to get help with paying the bills for the services rendered to them. The next step is to, meet with the local health department to brain-storm ideas to give services to the population that wants to be involved, like checking their blood levels to see if they have in issues with their cholesterol to see if they need to watch what they are eating, or checking blood pressure for hypertension, that can lead to heart disease and heart attacks. My goals to see any type of improvements would be, to start off these programs and to see the number of patients coming increasing to help lower the risk of chronic diseases in the population, would be around 6 months. To steadily increase the amount of people willing to volunteer to get educated or checked, to help get the programs more attention and recognition would rapidly improve the health in the community by making the population more aware of how they can get more involved in their health. 

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Second

Maitri Patel 

· 1

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· 4

· 5

            To improve the quality of care for the patient population, I would focus on upgrading the poorly organized delivery system with minimal financial impact.

            Recently, our healthcare system is decentralized, where many patients’ viewpoints are not taken into consideration. Physicians are working independently or in a group of less than 10, which has shown to affect the quality of care given to individuals. No doubt that people are living longer due to innovation in medical science and technology, but there is still an increase in the number of chronic conditions. So, the increase in population must be directed in the right way to resolve such problems. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Our healthcare system is complicated; it requires steps and handoffs that delay the care process and safety tremendously. 

            The quality of care can be improved by properly organizing the skills of healthcare workers. First of all, patients need to follow-up on a regular basis regardless of their health condition. Patients’ records should be maintained using advanced information technology which can be easily accessible and transferred if required. Moreover, physicians should naturally incorporate established guidelines and protocols while treating all of their patients, specifically those with chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension. Patients should be given comprehensive knowledge of treatments and ultimately the authority to make the final decision. The quality of the care can also be refined if the doctor can take some time to counsel the patients to provide options of treatment. Specialized clinical knowledge and expertise are crucial to minimize the undesired consequences in the medical field. These can be achieved by implementing collaborative care models where primary healthcare professionals and experts of the particular branch work together. If not, then general doctors should consult specialists via teleconferencing or other means and refer the patient to the specialist. Advanced knowledge can be spread to the medical staff either using social media or conferences which can benefit the patients. There are many resources available to both patients and their doctors on well-established websites and cell-phone applications, for example, “Up-to-date”. Advanced technology like computer-aided decision support systems can prove to be helpful in brushing up old techniques quickly which may otherwise be time-consuming. So, the poorly organized healthcare delivery system can be upgraded by utilizing high-grade technology, a more supportive information system, careful consideration of patients’ needs, evidence-based care, regular follow-ups and reorganization of practices to meet the need of patients who require more time and energy. All of these improvements can be implemented at a very low cost. For example, better computer-based patient information requires minimal investment to set up the network of computers and other suggested items are all based on being more mindful and aware of patient care.

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