scholarly journals Medicare Telehealth Pre and Post-COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Albanese ◽  
Amar Gupta ◽  
Ilina Shah ◽  
Joanna Mitri
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Fee For Service ◽  
Medicare Beneficiaries ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Quality Health

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic led to temporary relaxations for telehealth with respect to physician licensure, geographic location, and eligible sites for reimbursement. Earlier policies had impacted the rate of adoption of telehealth and retarded the ability to derive full benefits related to cost, access to care, and quality of care. This aspect is analyzed using 2018 Medicare fee-for-service codes and rates for 10 telemedicine services. Based on the analysis of these data, additional research, and literature review, this report describes how interstate practices can be better leveraged to achieve maximum potential for direct and indirect savings that can accrue through such pragmatic approaches for certain services. The interstate collaborations proposed in this report provide examples of broader telehealth policies that could foster increasing access to quality health care for Medicare beneficiaries and can potentially be used as insight to assist federal and state agencies as they review the continuation, cessation, or modifications of relaxations granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Poor quality for the poor? A study of inequalities in service readiness and provider knowledge in Indonesian primary health care facilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manon Haemmerli ◽  
Timothy Powell-Jackson ◽  
Catherine Goodman ◽  
Hasbullah Thabrany ◽  
Virginia Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Service Readiness ◽  
Quality Health

Abstract Background For many low and middle-income countries poor quality health care is now responsible for a greater number of deaths than insufficient access to care. This has in turn raised concerns around the distribution of quality of care in LMICs: do the poor have access to lower quality health care compared to the rich? The aim of this study is to investigate the extent of inequalities in the availability of quality health services across the Indonesian health system with a particular focus on differences between care delivered in the public and private sectors. Methods Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey (wave 5, 2015), 15,877 households in 312 communities were linked with a representative sample of both public and private health facilities available in the same communities. Quality of health facilities was assessed using both a facility service readiness score and a knowledge score constructed using clinical vignettes. Ordinary least squares regression models were used to investigate the determinants of quality in public and private health facilities. Results In both sectors, inequalities in both quality scores existed between major islands. In public facilities, inequalities in readiness scores persisted between rural and urban areas, and to a lesser extent between rich and poor communities. Conclusion In order to reach the ambitious stated goal of reaching Universal Health Coverage in Indonesia, priority should be given to redressing current inequalities in the quality of care.

Quality Shortfalls From Health Care Waste: A Unifying Root Cause of Burnout

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Swensen ◽  
Tait D. Shanafelt
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Health Care Delivery System ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Quality Health

The current health care delivery system is perfectly designed to create high rates of professional burnout in physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, and other health care professionals. In most organizations, a gap exists between the quality of care professionals aspire to deliver and the quality of care actually delivered, which creates burnout. Poor quality health care is fundamentally about waste, and leaders in the health care industry have primary accountability and responsibility for system waste. The following are five categories of waste in health care: Failures of care delivery and care coordination, overtreatment, administrative complexity, pricing failures, and fraud and abuse.

scholarly journals Quality indicators of dental health care in Serbia

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Svetlana Jovanović ◽  
Maja Milošević ◽  
Irena Aleksić-Hajduković ◽  
Jelena Mandić
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Health System ◽  
Quality Indicators ◽  
Health Care Quality ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
System Quality ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Quality Health

Summary Health care has witnessed considerable progresses toward quality improvement over the past two decades. More precisely, there have been global efforts aimed to improve this aspect of health care along with experts and decision-makers reaching the consensus that quality is one of the most significant dimensions and features of health system. Quality health care implies highly efficient resource use in order to meet patient’s needs in terms of prevention and treatment. Quality health care is provided in a safe way while meeting patients’ expectations and avoiding unnecessary losses. The mission of continuous improvement in quality of care is to achieve safe and reliable health care through mutual efforts of all the key supporters of health system to protect patients’ interests. A systematic approach to measuring the process of care through quality indicators (QIs) poses the greatest challenge to continuous quality improvement in health care. Quality indicators are quantitative indicators used for monitoring and evaluating quality of patient care and treatment, continuous professional development (CPD), maintaining waiting lists, patients and staff satisfaction, and patient safety.

scholarly journals Effective Team Working in Health Care

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. West ◽  
Lynn Markiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Well Being ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Team Working ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
High Quality Health Care

In this chapter we show that team working is vital for high quality health care but that team working is often poor. We draw on research to show that effective team working is associated with fewer errors that harm staff and patients; fewer staff injuries; better staff well-being; higher levels of patient satisfaction; better quality of care; and lower patient mortality. “Pseudo team working” leads to the opposite outcomes. We describe how effective team based working can be developed and identify the importance of team objectives and leadership. The chapter describes the specific challenges for team working in health care, including the complexity of the context and the historical legacy of separate professional development and status hierarchies. We explore how these challenges can be overcome, arguing that ensuring effective team working in health care is critical to ensuring the delivery of high quality, continually improving and compassionate health care.

Quality Improvement Toolkits: Recommendations for Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 538-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Hempel ◽  
Isomi Miake-Lye ◽  
Angela G. Brega ◽  
Fred Buckhold ◽  
Susan Hassell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Modified Delphi ◽  
Content Development ◽  
Development Methods ◽  
Improving Health Care

A burgeoning number of toolkits dedicated to improving health care exist but development guidance is lacking. The authors convened a panel of health care stakeholders, including developers, purchasers, users, funders, and disseminators of toolkits. The panel was informed by a literature review that analyzed 44 publications and 27 toolkits. A modified Delphi process established recommendations and suggestions to guide toolkit development. The panel established 12 recommendations for content and 1 recommendation for toolkit development methods. The recommendations are accompanied by 11 suggestions for toolkit content, 9 suggestions for development methods, and 6 suggestions for toolkit evaluation methods. The authors established a set of key recommendations and suggestions addressing the content, development, and evaluation methods of quality improvement toolkits, together with a ready-to use checklist. The guidance aims to advance the value of toolkits as an emerging method to effectively disseminate interventions to improve the quality of care.

scholarly journals Perceived quality of care and satisfaction for deaf people with regard to primary care in a Health Area in the region of Murcia

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Simón Cayuela Fuentes ◽  
María del Mar Pastor Bravo ◽  
María de los Ángeles Conesa Guillén
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Perceived Quality ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Health Area ◽  
El Sistema

Objetivo: Describir la calidad asistencial percibida y la satisfacción frente a los servicios de Atención Primaria del Área de Salud II Cartagena del Servicio Murciano de Salud por parte de las personas sordas de Cartagena y comarca.Método: Estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal. Los datos se recogieron mediante la traducción simultánea a la lengua de signos española del Cuestionario de Evaluación y Mejora de la Calidad Asistencial de Calidad Percibida en Atención Primaria. Se analizaron las variables: edad, sexo, nivel de estudios, tipo de sordera, primera lengua y uso, sistemas o apoyos comunicativos, calidad de atención percibida, percepción de la profesionalidad y trato humano por parte del profesional de la medicina, enfermería y administración y la satisfacción global percibida con su Centro de Atención Primaria. Resultados: La profesionalidad y trato humano recibido por parte del personal médico y administrativo fue percibido como deficiente, considerándose bueno en caso de las enfermeras. La satisfacción global es menor a la de la población general. Existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el tipo de sordera y la profesionalidad percibida, el trato humano y la profesionalidad percibida y entre el sistema o apoyo comunicativo y la calidad de la atención percibida. Conclusiones: Es necesario adaptar la atención en salud que se presta a este colectivo con necesidades especiales a fin de que perciban una atención sanitaria de calidad que derive en un mayor acceso y seguimiento de personas sordas en el sistema sanitario.   Objective: To describe the quality of care and satisfaction with regard to the primary care services of the Health Area II Cartagena of the Murcia Health Service as perceived by deaf people of Cartagena and the region.Method: Observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study. The data were collected through the simultaneous translation of the Questionnaire on Evaluation and Improvement of the Quality of Care (EMCA) relative to the Perceived Quality in Primary Care. The variables analyzed were: age, sex, level of education, kind of deafness, first language and use, communication systems or supports, quality of perceived service, perception of professionalism and humane treatment by doctors, nurses and administrative personnel and overall satisfaction perceived regarding their Health Center.Results: Professionalism and humane treatment on behalf of doctors and administrative staff was perceived as deficient, yet this perception was good in the case of nurses. Overall satisfaction is lower than that in the general population. There are statistically significant differences between the type of deafness and the perceived professionalism, the humane treatment and the perceived professionalism and between the communication system or support and the perceived quality of care.Conclusions: The health care provided to this group with special needs must be adapted so that they perceive quality health care leading to increased access and monitoring of deaf people in the health system.  

scholarly journals The Implications of Endocrinology in Orthodontics – Literature Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-13
Author(s):  
Adeel Tahir Kamal ◽  
Hafiz Taha Mahmood ◽  
Mubassar Fida
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Facial Disfigurement ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health

SummaryEndocrinopathies have a variety of orofacial presentations which span from dental malocclusion to facial disfigurement. These characteristics depend on the nature and severity of the condition. An orthodontist should understand the body’s physiological processes to be able to timely determine the optimum intervention and plan treatment stages accordingly in compromised individuals. Communication between the two specialties should be well coordinated and should help facilitate quality health care to the patient. This review was aimed to impart the basic knowledge and the pivotal guidelines for orthodontic management in these conditions. Systemic conditions require multidisciplinary management and the dental team should aim to provide quality oral health care to enhance the overall quality of life and the orthodontist plays a vital role in helping patients achieve physical and psychological health.

Improving the Quality of Rural Nursing Care

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Cox ◽  
Irma Mahone ◽  
Elizabeth Merwin
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Quality Health Care ◽  
Research Issues

The purpose of this chapter is to review the literature on quality of care in rural areas. Keywords related to rural quality of care were used to search CINAHL and MEDLINE databases for articles published between 2005 and 2007 (limited to studies occurring in the United States). The review consisted of a total of 46 articles. Limitations include inconsistent definitions of rural, the use of only articles available to the reviewers, an unclear understanding of the context of many of the studies, and lack of a clear operational definition of quality. The studies were grouped and discussed according to quality of workforce, practice, treatment, interventions, and technology in rural areas. Each study’s contribution to the understanding of quality health care in rural areas and to determining what was effective in improving staff, patient, or organizational outcomes in rural areas was considered. This chapter also offers a discussion of ethical issues and data quality in rural research. Issues for future research include a focus on patient safety, mental health issues, and the use of technology to improve quality of care in rural areas. Future research should also focus on demonstration studies of model applications. The nursing profession has a unique opportunity to conduct research that will contribute to the development of knowledge that will ultimately improve the quality of health and health care for individuals in rural communities.

scholarly journals Effects of Care Coordination on Hospitalization, Quality of Care, and Health Care Expenditures Among Medicare Beneficiaries

JAMA ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 301 (6) ◽  
pp. 603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Peikes ◽  
Arnold Chen ◽  
Jennifer Schore ◽  
Randall Brown
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Care Coordination ◽  
Health Care Expenditures ◽  
Medicare Beneficiaries
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