Question

Considering the advances in health care practices, service delivery, and technology how do you for see the future of health care practices and service delivery? What types of benchmarks, metrics, and quality improvement processes would you recommend for the health care practices and service delivery you have identified? Use the S.T.E.E.P. dimensions to guide your response.  

Answer 1

Answer 1: Focusing on the advances in health care practices, services delivery & technologies the future of health care practices/service delivery can be as follows:

• Due to the advent of innovative & advanced means of technological advancements, healthcare has been able to contribute the services that are out of thier confine place of hospital walls which focuses on integrating the user-friendly accessible devices to manage the overall practices.
• Future health care can be seen in many developments that are undergoing research firms of healthcare as various means of developing the practices that cater to the need of patient needs. It is need of an hour that healthcare future lies in working hand in hand with healthcare workers & technology to embrace the changing healthcare technologies to stay relevant in the coming years to deliver the best practices.
• The future of health care would be more focused on digital means of technology that would transform healthcare systems unsustainable into sustainable ones by equalizing the relationships between various medical professionals, patients, providing cheaper, fast & effective solutions to manage the advanced diseases with technologies adaption in place.
• The Future of healthcare will more of Artificial Intelligence adoption with AI algorithms that mine the medical records, design to planning the treatment to create drugs that are faster available than the current state on various health care palette including a medical professional, Changing lives of a patient with the development of virtual reality operations innovated to control the hospital services experience is another future that can be seen in the healthcare management system.
• Adaption of Augmented reality (AR) in healthcare drives the force to the future of medicine world with both the healthcare managers & as well as receivers side, Newly means of healthcare trackers, senors & wearable devices, with medical tricorder will come in future to provide an instant solution with integrated management interface & thereby helps the healthcare in taking decisions holistically.
• Development of drug through revolutionizing, adapting the newly developed technology as nanotechnology, Robotics to combat the management of patient care, operations & as well as 3D-Printing will make the wonders in all aspects of health practices & delivery services which can print the artificial limbs, blood vessels & the list goes on with complete developments in healthcare practices with sheer innovation to provide better medical conditions & setting in various healthcare regions globally.

Answer 2: Following are various metrics, benchmarks, or quality improvement processes the health care practices can adapt & also with STEEP dimensions that support such delivery practices in health care:

• Having quality tools defines the easy assessing of problems in health care practices which helps in prioritizing the safety & quality norms at large, several initiatives can be used to manage the quality improvement tools in health care services which are distinct in each of the methods.
• One of the key measures is Root cause analysis which is used to access by reporting errors or incidents that differentiate the active/latent errors by identifying the need to change the procedures to serve the best system changes including to improvise the communication at risk. Using Six Sigma Toyota Production System in healthcare settings will help them to go in a detailed process of differentiating the causes or variations of outcome results to process & rework on various root cause issues with continuous problem-solving approach, improvement, & deciding with appropriate integration at all levels.
• The healthcare setting can also use the metric to measure the quality as Plan Do Study Act measure such as PDSA approach which helps in managing of collecting data, constructing control charts & also apply team report measure PDSA cycles which integrates the complex system, another metric can use is Failure Modes & Effective Analysis as FMEA which is used to avoid the events that affect the healthcare setting through in-depth analysis & thereby help in maintaining the quality of care by providing quality service delivery.
• Adapting STEEP practices or fundamentals to healthcare settings is also important management control measure that is an adapted, STEEP is an Acronym which defines as S-Safe which includes to avoid any harm that affect the patients from the care & intended to help them,T-Timely which focuses on reducing the waiting times with harmful delays that impact the smooth delivery of care to patients in healthcare, E-Effective is where it provides the services based on knowledge that is scientific & benefits all by refraining of providing the service, E-Efficient is where it includes the integrating of the resources to best possible means & thereby controlling the waste resource allocation, reducing administrative costs of production, E-Equitable which includes guarding against all forms of discrimination in delivering service, with equitable nursing of providing care that not vary the quality in personal income, gender or ethnicity & P-Patient Centered approach which focuses on providing the care that is respectful/responsive to patient needs, preferences & valuing the key improvement measure to provide quality measures in health care delivery practices holistically.