Question 1: Imagine that you have recently been appointed as the head of a large hospital system. You've been hired into this role by the Board of Trustees for your vast knowledge on how to improve the quality of services. Over the last few years, the hospital system has had a number of issues arise related to the quality of care it provides, including numerous medical malpractice cases, low patient satisfaction ratings, and a warning from the national organization that accredits the hospital, to improve the quality or risk losing its accreditation.
- What are some of the issues that you would want to explore to help improve the quality?
- What information/data would you ask for to help analyze the problem?
- What are some of the areas that you would want to focus on to help improve the quality of the hospital?
- Suggest at least one solution to improving poor quality of care in a hospital system
Question 2: Numerous resources now exist that allow individuals to make an informed choice of who will provide their medical care. Unfortunately, the average health care consumer is unaware of where to find information about hospitals, medical providers, and insurance coverage.
- Imagine that you are assisting someone in your community (a real or fictitious person of your choice) in finding a medical provider. In your post, provide a brief description of this person and address the following questions:
- What factors would you need to keep in mind while conducting this search?
- How would you evaluate who the best medical provider for this person is?
- Consider the type of care necessary, cost, the level and type of insurance coverage available, and any other related issues. What would make someone a good or bad medical provider for this person?