Health benefits: how to ensure employees receive the highest quality help
But what does quality really mean in relation to healthcare?
Who you know
For some it’s brand. In the medical sense this could be the perception that the best specialists and facilities are London-based. Harley Street is a prime example, but it’s just a postcode. Another measure could be the volume of procedures the specialist has undertaken. While there’s a lot to be said for experience, does quantity really represent quality?
What you know
Medicine is moving at such a pace that a specialist using the latest technology may have carried out fewer procedures but delivered far better results for their patients. For example, interventional cardiology has now superseded previous techniques such as open-heart surgery. Yet, cardiologists who have practised for many years and not updated their practice may not be able to provide this new service. And, some conditions can now see better outcomes without the need for surgery, such as the use of physiotherapy to treat back pain. Measuring on volume alone could prove unreliable in this situation. Moreover, assessing quality on the amount of procedures an individual has undertaken could drive unethical behaviours by enticing them to perform unnecessary treatments.
The result of the treatment and the individual’s experience are arguably more robust measures of quality. But, does the success of a procedure really depend on one person? The simple answer is no. The health ecosystem is intrinsically linked. Whether the treatment delivers the expected results can be influenced by factors outside a specialist’s control. Drugs need to be administered, dressings changed, and the right rehabilitation programme followed.
A broader view
That’s why, when we talk about quality health provision, we take a broader view of the complete customer journey, from the point of claim all the way through to the completion of our customers’ clinical treatment. This approach gives us a better understanding of the value our propositions bring to our customers’ lives.
Providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have a duty to ‘assess the risks to people’s health and safety during any care or treatment and make sure that staff have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to keep people safe.’
In simplistic terms, this means that a hospital isn’t just ‘bricks and mortar’. Its staff all have a role to play in improving the quality of patient care – be it protecting against infection or working together to deliver the best outcomes in and out of theatre.
CQC and HIS( Healthcare Improvement Scotland) ratings are currently one of the most robust, independent measure of quality in its holistic sense. That’s why they underpin our quality guiding approach. While the hospital is awarded the rating, it’s a reflection of everything that’s in it; staff, facilities, patient experience – not just the bricks and mortar.
Think of them as the Ofsted of health provision. You don’t solely choose a child’s education based on the facility alone. Yes, reputation, effective management and good facilities are prime considerations. However, the quality of the teaching staff, safety record and culture may be more important. And, while we’re on the topic, sometimes we need to go out of catchment to get what’s right for our children. We accept this – often going to the extremes of relocating to a new area. It’s no different when talking about healthcare – although without the need for your employees to move to a new house.
That’s not to say we don’t take steps to ensure the quality of specialists. Our introduction of condition-based networks enables us to assess like-for-like treatments against independently stated measures such as the Royal College of Surgeons Commissioning Guidelines. And it’s a prerequisite for clinicians to share quality data with us to be considered for our condition-based networks. We have strict governance and monitoring in place to ensure that the specialists we work with are continually delivering the most clinically appropriate treatment to our customers and acting with integrity.
Moreover, we capture and analyse data to help evolve and build quality models to help your employees make informed choices about their healthcare and improve their overall customer experience.
To find out how we can help your employees access quality, sustainable healthcare click here
The author is Dr Subashini M, Aviva UK Health associate medical director.
This article is provided by Aviva.
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