Discuss the below:
State your position on two of the following topics:
Access to Care
Quality of Care
Costs of Care
Ethical Practices
Value of Health
Wellness of the Population
Cite at least two references using APA documentation to support your rationale.
1. "The timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes" (ODPHP, 20170). To have a better healthy life it is important to have physical exams and routine testing. My position on access to health care is that everyone should have the opportunity to seek for health care. People should see doctors for quality and comprehensive health care to promote and maintain good health. As well preventing and managing disease, reducing unnecessary disability and premature death and health equity for all Americans (ODPHP, 2017). No matter what age you are, it is important to have annual checks. It should be affordable for everyone to have insurance at least to have a complete well physical. By having access to care, people will start caring more for their health and try to live a healthy life.
Everyone deserves access to health care, but also to quality of care no matter what insurance or no insurance the patient has. "Quality health care means doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right people and having the best possible results" (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2009). Quality of care includes effectiveness, safety, timely, patient centered, equitable, and efficiency, it is important for all patients to receive treatment at an adequate time, given information in their language so the patient is able to understand. Patient seek for help in health care providers to have a better life. As medical providers it is our job to help those people in need, and help them prevent from diseases.
2. The two topics I will be discussing is access to care and the quality of care. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) website, the Institute of Medicine defines quality as having six qualities: effectiveness, efficiency, equity, patient centeredness, safety, and timeliness (AHRQ, 2012). Based on family and personal experiences, I am 50/50 on how quality of care is today. I honestly think it depends on the location because there have been some places where the care was great and other places where the care was horrible. My father had to go to the emergency room the other day and told me he waited a few hours before they took him which is crazy. Imagine if a person was in a life or death situation without anyone really knowing how severe the situation was until the doctors look at the patient. My father went and the diagnosis was a blood clot. Thankfully it was nowhere near vital organs but what if it had been and they made him wait that long?
Access to care is actually an objective of the campaign Healthy People 2020. The barriers to health services include high cost of care, inadequate or no insurance coverage, lack of availability of services, and lack of culturally competent care (ODPHP, 2017). The places where access to care would still be an issue are rural and more poor areas. I think we still have a long way to go in order for everyone to have easier access to healthcare. More clinics would play a huge role in narrowing that gap. Everyone deserves the right to access to healthcare.
3. My position about quality of care is that everyone deserves it even those grumpy mean patients. I learned that someone's day will always be worse than mine and considering that I work in a hospital this is true. I interact with homeless people, drug users, and HIV patients. They all come in the hospital with a perception that we do not care whether they live or die. That makes me sad because I value all human life and that is the reason why I am in school today. I want to better someone's day, life and their health. I want to provide the best quality of care that I am capable of doing. According to Nygren Zotterman, Skar, Olsson, and Soderberg (2015), "good nursing care is more than competence and efficiency, as it also involves a genuine concern for the ill person" (p.418). My position about the wellness of the population is that everyone should be healthy and live health lives. Currie (2012) stated "lifestyle into old age can add five years to women's lives and six years to men's, a recent study found. While previous studies have linked lifestyle factors such as being overweight, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol to early death, the recent study sought to find whether the link could be applied to people age 75 and older" (p.15). I wish nothing but good health to everyone and I plan n doing my best to help them do that when I become a PA.
Currie, D. (2012). Study: healthy living can add years to life. The Nation's Health, (9), 15.
Nygren Zotterman, A., Skär, L., Olsson, M., & Söderberg, S. (2015). District nurses' views on quality of primary healthcare encounters. Scandinavian Journal Of Caring Sciences, 29(3), 418-425. doi:10.1111/scs.12146
4. The two positions I will be discussing are quality of care and ethical practices. Working in healthcare I can see first hand the quality of patient care that is received in my practice, however that does not speak for all organizations. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2012) defines health care quality as "the degree to which health care services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge". From my experience, the quality of care given to our patients is exceptional as it our top priority. Our practice and providers keep up on the latest technology and continuing education classes to share with our patients to ensure they receive the best quality of care. Sadly, I cannot speak upon other organizations and their quality of care. The quality of care given is directly related to ethical practices demonstrated by health care providers. When we become health care professionals we take an oath to practice ethically. The primary commitment is to the health, well-being, and safety of patients (National Association for Healthcare Quality, 2011). I've worked in a few offices and have experienced both ethical and non-ethical practices from doctors and secondary providers. The time I've spent in the offices that don't practice ethically has worried me, however, I don't change my way of practicing and I stand up for strong ethical practices.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2012). Understanding Quality Measurement.
National Association for Healthcare Quality. (2011). NAHQ Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.