HCO's Clinical Quality Improvement

Clinical quality is a sensitive issue thus the responsible stakeholders should approach it with deep insight and focus. Leaders and physicians play significant roles in ensuring that clinical quality is maintained at formidable levels. These stakeholders play different roles, either individually or collectively.

Firstly, Leaders and physicians should ensure that the clinical care is patient centered (Scott, 2000). Consequently, the political and administrative leaders should ensure that medical personnel focus on the patients needs first. In many occasions, especially in the private sector, practitioners focus on making profits other than providing eminent medical care. The patients are usually over-charged, in addition to, receiving poor quality treatment. Leaders should ensure that there are appropriate rules guiding stipulation of excellent services with the interests of the patients being the priority.

Physicians are in a formidable position to improve quality of clinical services. Firstly, they can provide first hand and up to date information concerning clinical quality. The physicians deal with the patients directly and so they are capable of establishing the current trends (Swanwick & McKimm, 2011). Due to the sensitivity of medical care, up to date information will be useful in decision-making. For instance, if the physicians note that there are more patients in need of flu medication, then the chances of an outbreak are high. From this point, the relevant decision makers can decide on the action to pursue.

The leadership is also responsible for distributing the available resources for improving clinical quality. The leaders should establish what to prioritize in medical care thus starting with the most urgent matters such as response to outbreaks (Scott, 2000).

The physicians should guide the improvement of clinical quality through extensive research (Swanwick & McKimm, 2011). Physicians have the capacity to conduct research concerning medical care in the laboratory and collecting other relevant information, which is useful in planning and formulation of lasting clinical improvement activities. The physicians can also follow up to see how effective the existing medical care is. From this point, the decision makers can decide whether to improve the existing strategy or establish new processes.

Leadership determines how resources for improvement of clinical services are distributed. The leadership should ensure that funds are allocated with reference to priority (Scott, 2000). The areas with denser population need more resources regardless of their economic or social classes. The leadership in a clinical improvement program should also mobilize resources. The leaders usually seek donations from the governments, non-government organizations, and individuals (Scott, 2000). They also start financial programs, which help organizations in medical care to generate their own resources, which used to support the quality of clinical services.