Quality healthcare is the foundation of a prosperous society. With so many hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities in the US, it can be hard to keep up with all of them. Whether you’re an employee or owner, there are some steps you can take to improve your medical facility’s standards.
Understand the Importance of Quality Healthcare
Medical facilities must be kept as high-quality as feasible for everyone’s benefit.
A hospital’s cleanliness, personnel experience, and patient stay must all match those requirements. These are a few factors contributing to a hospital’s total quality score. Although there is no universally accepted definition of a high-quality hospital, most national organizations believe that anything less than five stars is considered substandard.
As you can see, excellent healthcare is crucial for both you and your patients, who deserve the best possible treatment.
Know How Hospital Ratings Work
The US Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) uses a star rating system to measure healthcare quality in a hospital. Ratings are currently assigned to hospitals based on three dimensions:
- Hospital-acquired conditions
- Readmissions
- Patient Safety
The CMS assigns stars to each dimension; the more stars, the better the rating. The overall rating is determined by totaling up all the stars for each dimension and dividing them by 120, which is how many days there are in a year. The ratings go from 0 stars (worst) to 4 stars (best).
Make Sure Your Facility Is Up to Date with Technologies
Because technology is continuously evolving, your medical institution must as well. Keeping up with new technology and trends can help you improve patient care.
Using digital technology improves the patient and employee experience. For example, computerized kiosks allow personnel to access patient information from anywhere in the hospital, easing the workload of busy nurses.
It will be easier for patients to use their own devices and provide a more personalized experience. This will improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
Make Sure Your Facility Is Clean
Hospitals have cleaning rules. Some are highly explicit, including what surfaces should be cleaned, how often and address non-compliant areas. Use professional services such as
USP 797/800 Cleanrooms to help you maintain standards in all areas, not just the patient-facing aspects of your facility.
One of the most vital is disinfecting your facility’s rooms daily. This helps prevent infections, so keep it up. Use automatic cleaning devices like an air purifier. These systems help maintain standards by cleaning the air.
Maintain a Respectful Patient-Doctor Relationship
Quality healthcare depends on patient-doctor relationships. The doctor should respect and care for the patient and should be able to provide personal care to deliver the most outstanding care.
It’s vital to treat them with respect. Making sure patients understand their treatment plan and access their medical information is part of this, as is better communication regarding their health.
Patient satisfaction is vital. You don’t want unhappy patients leaving bad reviews or spreading bad news about your facility online.
If you want to boost patient satisfaction, try introducing incentives. If you make their stay enjoyable, they may become advocates for improving your hospital’s service standards.
