Health care organizations should do their best to create a high level of quality, but it is not easy to cope with this task because of a few challenges. Firstly, Iqbal et al. (2019) admit that unequal access to health care services represents one of the most significant barriers. It means that health care establishments cannot provide their patients with high-quality care because individuals cannot access these organizations. Secondly, the researchers admit that another significant challenge refers to “the gaps in knowledge, policy, and action” (Iqbal et al., 2019, p. 165). This idea relates to the fact that an organization’s quality level depends on its staff members. Since there exist some medical professionals who cannot meet the highest quality standards, medical establishments feel difficulties in providing people with the best care. Thirdly, continuously changing global health priorities also result in the fact that organizations cannot create a high level of quality. This argument means that health care establishments can fail to take timely actions to address new issues. Consequently, the three examples above have demonstrated that fundamental challenges prevent health care organizations from improving their quality.
Once medical establishments have witnessed some improvements, a new task for them is to sustain changes. This process is not simple, and various challenges are responsible for it. Silver et al. (2016) admit that achieving improvements requires essential investment in time and effort, but sustaining them also needs these resources. It means that once a change occurs, health care organizations tend to be satisfied with the achievement, making it challenging to sustain the improvement. The following issue refers to the fact that the achievement of a specific goal results in a decrease in motivation within a medical establishment. It is so because quality improvements are often considered a finish that is associated with the less dense working activity. Finally, Silver et al. (2016) argue that health care organizations should rely on new skills and abilities following quality improvement. It means that the new environment will provide medical establishments with specific challenges, and these organizations face difficulties in sustaining enhancements because they do not know how to work in new and enhanced conditions. Thus, health care organizations should address a few issues to sustain their improvements.
When it comes to sustaining improvements, one should state that both leaders and staff members play crucial roles. On the one hand, Lown et al. (2019) stipulate that leaders should provide their subordinates with the necessary support to help them cope with numerous tasks. Furthermore, Lown et al. (2019) explain that leaders are responsible for preventing staff members from burnout, which is necessary to achieve sustainability within an organization. In other words, these claims mean that leaders are sources of motivation and guidelines in a challenging environment. On the other hand, staff members can also influence whether a medical establishment successfully sustains quality improvements. It relates to the fact that these professionals should master new skills and abilities to operate within the enhanced environment. This claim denotes that these individuals should make sufficient efforts to meet new challenges. Silver et al. (2016) support this thought and mention that staff members should be ready to invest much time and effort even after their organization has experienced a positive change. This information denotes that both leaders and staff members are equally responsible for sustaining improvements.
References
Iqbal, U., Rabrenovic, M., & Li, Y.-C. (2019). Health care quality challenges in low- and middle-income countries. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 31(3), 165.
Lown, B. A., Shin, A., & Jones, R. (2019). Can organizational leaders sustain compassionate, patient-centered care, and mitigate burnout? Journal of Healthcare Management, 64(6), 398-412.
Silver, S. A., McQuillan, R., Harel, Z., Weizman, A. V., Thomas, A., Nesrallah, G., Bell, C. M., Chan, C. T., & Chertow, G. M. (2016). How to sustain change and support continuous quality improvement. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 11(5), 916-924.