- Respond to at least two (2) of your classmates’ or your instructor’s posts. Your responses should include elements such as follow-up questions, a further exploration of topics from the initial post, or requests for further clarification or explanation on some points made.
Peers#1
According to a 2012 national survey, more than 30 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use health care approaches that are not typically part of conventional medical care (NIH, 2021). If a non-mainstream approach is used together with conventional medicine, it is considered a complementary service (NIH, 2021). One example of a complementary service in the healthcare industry is acupuncture. Research suggests that several physical approaches, like acupuncture, alone or in combination, are helpful for a variety of conditions. Acupuncture may help ease types of pain that are often chronic and may also help reduce the frequency of tension headaches and prevent migraine headaches (NIH, 2021).
“Complementors”, like acupuncture, add value to the healthcare industry by empowering patients by making them feel as if they are doing something to help with their care, and “complementors” may also help to comfort and ease stress brought on by doctors and traditional treatments. I believe that a business alliance between acupuncture and the healthcare industry is a sound strategic move. Especially during cancer treatment, a business alliance between these two complimentary businesses is a sound strategic move. Acupuncture has been shown to ease the nausea, vomiting, fatigue, anxiety, and immune suppression that can often accompany cancer treatment (Dudley, 2017). A study on menopausal breast cancer patients showed that acupuncture was just as effective as drug therapy in reducing menopause symptoms (Dudley, 2017). In cancer survivors, acupuncture improves quality of life by treating some of the permanent effects of chemotherapy (Dudley, 2017). Patients who receive acupuncture immediately after a chemotherapy session report reduced discomfort following the treatment (Dudley, 2017). By forming an alliance, I think these two complementary businesses have the ability to not only improve patient outcomes, but also improve life after treatment for cancer survivors.
Peers# 2
An example of a complementary product or service in the healthcare industry is hospitals and pharmaceutical supplies. Every hospital has an alliance with its selected pharmaceutical company/distributors to promote/use their medications. The pharmaceutical distributor and the hospital negotiate a contract and the hospital gets medication at a discounted price. Each hospital uses a specific brand name and generic medication and using that medication promotes the sale of that medication which promotes the sale of that pharmaceutical company. Healthcare organizations are continually seeking opportunities to reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies while improving the quality of care (Krichanchai & MacCarthy, 2017). Because hospitals are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs, they try to bargain with the pharmaceutical companies/suppliers to give them the medications for a better price. Bigger renowned hospitals and top rates hospitals that provide high-quality care tend to have a better negotiation power compared to smaller hospitals. However, every hospital will need pharmaceutical supplies and there are a lot of pharmaceutical companies in the market currently making the pharmaceutical industry very competitive (Krichanchai & MacCarthy, 2017). The alliance between the hospital and the pharmaceutical company/distributor is a great strategic move because they both help each other in increasing their business and revenues. The more hospitals chose a particular brand of medication, the increased business, and revenue for that pharmaceutical company. Therefore, I think hospitals and pharmaceutical companies/distributors work well together and promote each other’s business.
Peers# 3
In healthcare, there are serval accrediting agencies that supervise and regulate a variety of healthcare settings. The accrediting agency I focused on this week is AAAHC, Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care. Founded in 1979, AAAHC leads the industry for accreditation services with an exclusive focus on ambulatory health care (AAAHC, 2021). The agency serves a wide range of organizations, including ambulatory surgery centers, office-based surgery facilities, endoscopy centers, and student health centers, among others (AAAHC, 2021). AAAHC advocates for the provision of high-quality healthcare through the development and adoption of national recognized standards (AAAHC, 2021). Because I currently work in the biomedical engineering department, the two accrediting regulations that relate to my current field are all preventative maintenance procedures must align directly with the equipment manual and all preventative maintenance must be performed within the designated month.
To prepare a facility to comply with these regulations, planning is crucial. Planning helps a hospital establish operations strategy and define specific actionable goals and a short-term roadmap (Langabeer et al., 2016). Making sure that all staff understands the goals and standards of accreditation is the key to ensuring compliance. One potential barrier to overcome to achieve and maintain compliance is understaffing. Especially during times like COVID, understaffing has been a problem when completing work in a timely manner. Making sure all work is properly documented can also be another barrier when maintaining compliance. It is crucial that all values are recorded, proper stickers are deployed, and documentation is complete to ensure compliance. Another barrier that can be faced when achieving compliance is making sure all procedures align with the manual. There are certain pieces of equipment in healthcare practices, like exam tables, that have evidence to support preventative maintenance does not need to be performed every six months as instructed by the manual. Because exam tables do not pose a risk to patients, this is a widely excepted practice. But accrediting agencies, like AAAHC, believe all equipment must be inspected per the manual. This is a potential barrier because all procedures must be reviewed to ensure guidelines are followed.
To prepare for accreditation, organizations must do a comprehensive assessment of processes, policies, and procedures, and anything else related to accreditation standards. This allows them to identify any areas where there are gaps in compliance. Healthcare administrators can then make changes to ensure that the structures meet standards and regulations.
Peers# 4
Accreditation is a voluntary process for healthcare organizations and hospitals to help quest quality healthcare and quality improvement methods for an accreditation perspective and not reimbursements (Langabeer & Helton, 2016). One of the dominant organizations is the Joint Commission, which helps hospitals concentrate on process improvement standards and manage outcomes (Langabeer & Helton, 2016). The Joint Commission provides the organization with evaluation programs, complete, precise criteria, and tools to evaluate the overall level of rendered quality care to patients ((Langabeer & Helton, 2016). Organizations and hospitals should know how to prepare for evaluations and continuously improve plans and services by participating in mock surveys for preparation.
The Joint Commission is committed to help organizations to render safe, high-quality healthcare services, protect individuals’ rights, and prohibit discrimination (jointcommission.org).
The Joint Commission helps organized and strengthened patient safety efforts and quality of care (jointcommission.org). The Joint Commission has several standards and initiatives like heightened community confidence in the quality and safety of treatment, care and services: provides a competitive edge in the marketplace; improves risk management and reduction; may reduce liability insurance cost; provide education for improvement, offers professional advice, and counsel to help enhanced staff; provides customized and intensive review; enhanced staff recruitment and development; provides the authority of Medicare certification; provides a framework for structure and management; helps in fulfilling regulatory; provides tools to upgrade and maintain performance and aligns healthcare organization position for the future of integrated health care(jointcommission.org).
Our facility prepares for accreditation all year long. We have policies and procedures that follow the guidelines imposed to get accredited. Our facility has staff that follows for JCAHO and NCQA guidelines and ensure that it is being followed so we are not caught off guard when the surveyors come to our facility. The barriers that we encounter are from the providers who do things that are non-compliant and have many issues in following the policies and procedures. Almost every day, I received orders that the facility cannot do and get upset when things are not done their way. The healthcare administrator has the power to make sure that we comply with the accreditation commission, measuring the productivity that tracks continued improvements, be efficient and cost-effective (Langabeer & Helton, 2016).
