What roles do leadership and physicians play in an HCO’s clinical quality improvement program?

Clinical quality is an extremely sensitive subject; implying stakeholders in healthcare organizations have the responsibility of approaching the matter with high levels of insight and focus. Physicians and leaders play distinctive roles need to guarantee high degrees of clinical quality. First, physicians and leaders must guarantee that clinical care is primarily patient-centred. As a result, administrative and political leaders ought to make sure that medical personnel put the needs of patients first (Marquis & Huston, 2008). It is a conventional practice for private practitioners to focus more on profitability than offering quality medical care. Besides poor quality medical care, patients are extremely overcharged; therefore, leaders must make sure that there are effective rules outlining the provision of exceptional services that prioritize patients’ interests.

Physicians are suitably positioned to enhance the quality of clinical care. For instance, they offer first-hand and updated information regarding the quality of clinical care. Physicians have direct contact with patients, implying that they have the capability of formulating current trends in medical care, which is helpful in decision-making (Rigolosi, 2005).

Leadership also plays a key part in the distribution of resources needed to advance clinical care. Leaders have the responsibility of prioritizing critical issues in medical care beginning with the most pressing issues like responding to disease outbreaks. Physicians can also improve clinical quality using extensive research. Physicians can perform medical studies in the laboratory and gather relevant data, which is vital in the planning and formulation of clinical improvement initiatives. Physicians can also initiate follow up measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the current medical care. In the light of this view, decision makers can devise methods to enhance existing strategies or formulate new processes (Van Wart, 2007).

Leadership influences the distribution of resources required for the improvement of clinical care. With this respect, leadership must guarantee the allocation of funds in accordance to priority. For instance, areas with higher population density require more resources than areas with low population density irrespective of the socio-economic conditions (Van Wart, 2007). In addition, leadership plays a crucial role in mobilizing resources for clinical improvement programs. Leaders have the responsibility of searching for grants and donations from governments, corporations, nongovernment organizations, and individuals. Leaders also kick start financial programs to aid healthcare organizations accumulate their own resources needed to support and improve the quality of clinical care.

References

Marquis, B., & Huston, C. (2008). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing:. New York, NY: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Rigolosi, E. (2005). Management and leadership in nursing and health care: An experiential approach. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Van Wart, M. (2007). Leadership in public organizations: an introduction. New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Order now