Cost benefit and economic approach related to health care services Research Paper

Cost benefit and economic approach related to health care services system - Research Paper Example Globally, there are certain common problems which are faced by the health care organizations. In subsequent paragraph, a brief look has been given upon the overall issues which prevail in the health care units globally. Issues in Healthcare System The health care system is facing serious problems globally. People’s health care needs are not being met in an adequate manner. The reason is there are countless cases of illness and diseases each day. Fortunately, there are also numbers of solutions available to deal with these day to day problems. According to The Centre for Health Design, (2001), the most common problems which are faced by the overall health care sector are: Issues related to Patient Care Issues related to patient satisfaction Issues relating to accommodating innovation and change Issues related to operational efficiency Environmental Impact Responding to uncertainties. (The Centre for Health Design, 2001, p.4) In order to resolve these issues, a certain policy fr amework has been designed which can assist in solving such critical yet important issues. The policy framework designed to meet these problems is discussed in subsequent paragraphs. Policy Framework for Improving Healthcare System According to Bradley, Pallas, Bashyal, Curry and Berman (2010), a framework has been designed to ensure financial protection and adequate access to health care systems. It also strengthens the delivery systems in order to serve vulnerable people. Six factors determine whether the goals at organizational level are achieved or not in order to enhance the level of performance. They are: i. Quality ii. Efficiency iii. Utilization iv. Access v. Learning vi. Sustainability Quality Maintaining the required level of quality is the foremost requirement for healthcare systems. Improper quality can endanger the valuable life of patients. In order to maintain quality, it is essential to keep track of the quality in three major areas, they are: Clinical quality Patient experience Management quality There are several measures required to be taken care of for these areas. By evaluating the performance of these measures, it can be determined whether the quality is up to the mark or not. These measures include avoidance of medical errors, level of satisfaction of patient, availability of medical supplies, adherence to clinical parameters and medical records system. Efficiency Efficiency is defined as the way by which an organization utilizes its resources to meet the demands. Three measures which define the level of efficiency of a health care system include: Number of patients or patient volume Ratio of staff to service Ratio of cost to service The above mentioned measures can define the level of efficiency of a health care system. It can be determined by observing key indicators like health workers or nurses which are available for each bed or visits of outpatients or inpatients per day, per health worker or per bed. It should be borne in mind that it is not necessary to allot maximum number of nurses to each bed in order to meet the benchmark efficiency but in essence what it means is that the number of nurses available must not be less than the number of patients or number of beds. Utilization Utilization can be measured by: Patient volume in regards to capacity Patient volume with respect to the population of health characteristics. The key indicators which can measure the level of utilization are visits of outpati