Health Insurance and Quality for the Urgent Care Center (Research Paper Sample)

Health Insurance and Quality for the Urgent Care Center
Name
Institution
Health Insurance and Quality for the Urgent Care Center
Introduction
Quality health care is one of the most important needs among the people. The government and relevant bodies are obligated to ensure people get healthcare that is effective, efficient, timeliness, and that which is patient-centered. Forms of wastes that are increasingly becoming common among many healthcare institutions should be dealt with appropriately, to promote patients’ satisfaction (Mayberry et al., 2006). The issue of healthcare affordability should also be a priority in facilitating a majority of patients, access proper and desired medical care. Patients should also be provided with sufficient information suitable for facilitating their easy access to healthcare services. In responding to these issues, the Urgent Care Center should seek ways through which to improve the general provision of healthcare services. Through the adoption of suitable and relevant quality initiatives, this would facilitate increased patient satisfaction and potentially reduce avoidable costs associated with healthcare provision.
Quality Initiatives That Could Increase Patient Satisfaction and Potentially Reduce Healthcare Cost in the Urgent Care Center
The Urgent Care Center can adopt various quality initiatives to improve patient satisfaction and reduce healthcare costs. One of these is the adoption of a quality management framework to enable the institution organize its operations by ensuring proper communication, monitoring healthcare processes and facilitating continuous improvement in all aspects of healthcare deliver (Deschenes, 2014). This would facilitate fast and efficient delivery of healthcare services, minimizing the costs associated with delays. The implementation of certain specifications and standards is another relevant initiative that can improve healthcare delivery (Mayberry et al., 2006). This provides quality assurance programs that guide healthcare providers to provide health care that is patient-centered to meet patient’s expectations. Through implementation of specifications and standards, costs associated with defects such as early discharges that lead to patients’ readmission, could be minimized, fostering patient satisfaction. Continuous learning and education should also be emphasized among health care providers (Deschenes, 2014). This initiative is necessary as it gives healthcare providers the opportunity to improve and develop their skills and competencies to provide high value and quality clinical care. Through this, costs associated with low productivity and the risks of poor quality healthcare services would be reduced thus enhancing patient and institutional satisfaction.
The Decision to Accept Medicaid as Potential Pay Source in the Urgent Care Center
An Urgent Care Center should have suitable programs that ensure the safety of patients seeking medical attention in such institutions. In most cases, patients seeking medical attention from Urgent Care Centers do that in order to receive it immediately, owing to the urgent nature of their complications. Sometimes, such patients do not have enough money to cater for the urgent medical services, and this result to difficulties in accessing the services. In this regard, it would be important for the Urgent Medical Center to introduce the acceptance of Medicaid as a potential pay sources to allow patients access their urgent healthcare services (Calmus, 2013). Unlike Medicare, Medicaid allows access to wi...