Importance Of Quality Measures In Healthcare

Quality measures are well known amongst healthcare organizations across the United States. The Medicaid system is built upon quality measures that tie directly into the payment system. In promoting quality measures amongst organizations the U.S. has developed a reporting system known as Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ to build awareness. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has defined healthcare quality as, “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.”(Rubin 2010) The awareness of process and outcome measures continues to build and is clearly publicized for consumers to see. Developing quality measures within your organization can be costly and involve countless labor hours. It involves being balanced; on one hand you need to continue quality efficient patient care but also analyze/improve initiatives simultaneously. Without proper knowledge or guidance you could waste countless amount of time and money. To achieve success quality measures must be analyzed and implementing strategically to produce results. To drive success we have to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of process and outcome …show more content…
All these measures are focused on patient’s outcomes and today’s technology really shines a light on all outcomes. It is imperative that healthcare providers consistently improve patient outcomes or it could be detrimental to the organizations. With the implementation of Obama care all patients have the right to choose their provider and they have the accessibility to view these quality measures. In response healthcare providers need to develop their own internal quality measures to better improve patient outcomes and increase credibility of the