About Us - Healthcare Quality Improvement
The quality movement
has produced great changes in manufacturing
over the past 20 years. Techniques and methods
developed by W. E. Deming and others, enhanced
by the utilization of improved information
systems, have enabled manufacturers to improve
quality while simultaneously lowering their
costs. Unfortunately, the same cannot be
said for healthcare.
While billions of dollars
have been spent developing better pharmaceuticals,
surgical techniques, and information systems,
translating these improvements into improved
clinical outcomes and/or reduced costs remains
elusive. This is due to a large degree,
to the nature of medicine itself. Patients
are not automobiles on an assembly line,
and there are many variables contributing
to the outcome of any given medical event.
Nevertheless, “a
large gulf exists between what we know and
what we practice”1
and many physicians have failed to implement
even well-documented “best practices”,
resulting in considerable variation in the
management of any given disease or condition.
This variation contributes
greatly to the cost of providing quality
healthcare, and results in:
- Poor health outcomes
- High cost of care
- Inappropriate medication
use
- Inappropriate referrals
- Over utilization of
resources
- Lost work days
Traditional interventions
have taken a piecemeal approach to changing
behavior in healthcare. Interventions are
targeted to a specific physician group,
or a patient population, or other target
audience (nurses, pharmacists, etc.). However,
medicine is not practiced in a vacuum. The
physician interacts with the patient, who
interacts with the nurse, who interacts
with the insurance company, etc. In order
for any change strategy to be effective,
it must consider the “system”
of healthcare, at whatever level the change
is directed (practice, hospital, patient
population, etc.). In order to bring about
improvement in clinical outcomes, the needs
and characteristics of the entire system
must be considered. An effective change
strategy will incorporate interventions
targeted to components and processes of
the entire system.
Our consultants utilize
a process that will help you:
- Improve medical outcomes
- Increase provider satisfaction
- Lower healthcare costs
- Lower the spend for
interventions by targeting
- Achieve NCQA accreditation
1
(Davis et al, 2003 BMJ 327, 33-35)
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