Quality Improvement
Quality improvement is a way for health care organizations to “ensure the most current, clinically proven techniques and practices are being put into place to deliver the safest and highest quality care”. This is accomplished through the collaborative efforts of health care providers and health care organizations. Quality improvement occurs as a result of the collection and analysis of quality indicators, patient health records, and patient satisfaction surveys, so areas for improvement can be identified. One necessary practice for health care organizations is to ensure a culture of quality by developing multidisciplinary teams that meet regularly to discuss the results of data that have been collected and analyzed.
“Developing meaningful measures of overall health system quality, and how it is changing, requires a combination of indicators that can reliably show how the system—which includes providers, payers, and public health—is influencing the health of the population”. It is important that health care organizations provide quality care because it is a vital service to people. Most people do not understand all of the complexities of health care, so people put their lives into the hands of health care professionals and health care organizations. Nurse leaders have the responsibility of leading and managing their teams to provide safe, quality, patient-centered health care and continuous quality improvement. The quality improvement process involves several basic concepts.
