The success of a hospital that holds quality certifications, such as accreditation, is fundamentally related to its ability to provide continuity to the best practices in care and administrative management. Manage using quality management tools is what prepares the organization to conquer accreditations. Therefore, we are going to discuss the challenges of hospital administration when we seek to implement a management model aimed at certification.
But first, we require knowing a little about what are the main factors involved in improving the quality of care and how the criteria for hospital accreditation are capable of guiding quality management. Therefore, do not stop reading.
Focus on quality management
The demands for health services are growing sharply, and prospects are continuously expanding. Consequently, the costs of the institutions for their efficient maintenance and investments also increase. But those costs almost never evolve in the same proportion of the available resources. With this scenario, the real challenge of hospital management is to achieve quality standards that are necessary for the adequate care and to provide better competitive conditions and differentiated remuneration for the institution.
It is necessary to emphasize that the methodologies that will be applied so that the hospital is thriving in the implementation of new standards and the improvement of the processes must attend to the particular needs of the institution. The objective should be quality management so that the value is highlighted not only by patients but by the professionals who act in the hospital.
The role of these methodologies is to change habits, promoting the revision of operational processes and reducing vulnerabilities. In this way, it is possible to transform the positions and expectations so that the entire context can effectively contribute to raising the quality of the care services offered by the hospital.
Hospital accreditation process
An accreditation program aims to standardize processes that promote the improvement of the quality of care perceived by the patient and demonstrated through objective evidence. We emphasize that indicators measure the development and the perception of progress. In practice, it is the hospital certifications and accreditations that show for patients and hospital management consulting company that the hospital operates with methods previously defined by international or national bodies aimed at guaranteeing patient safety and care outcomes. In Brazil, instruments and quality standards for certification are established by NAO – National Accreditation Organization.
Accreditation is an evaluation method of management whose realization is motivated by the initiative of the institution itself. It is not about auditing or licensing; it is a way to check the quality of the organization attributing credibility.
The accreditation process requires the institution to comply with hospital and health infrastructure standards that have a high level of standardization of care processes, guided by best practices and clinical protocols, and that have process indicators, continuously monitored and improved cyclically.
It is necessary, therefore, that an organizational culture of improvement be implemented through training programs and continuing education, anchored in technological solutions to guarantee the efficiency of hospital management.
Hospital management consultancy services helps the hospital to conquer and maintain high levels of quality, and the patient will be the primary beneficiary in that process through the increase in safety and efficiency in the execution of the assistance procedures. As an example, we mentioned the implementation of a pre-surgical checklist so that the name of the patient, the preparation of the surgery, is carefully verified, avoiding any failure.