Importance of Quality in Health Services
The importance of quality in health care is often understood when people are disappointed in their absence, or when they suffer unnecessary waste of time, or when they face unnecessary costs. Today, quality is the first agenda item of health institutions. Because people expect healthcare services from higher quality and cheaper services. As a result, health institutions are looking for ways to provide more effective and high quality services in the face of changes in the health sector, new regulations, increasing competition difficulties and consumer pressure. For all healthcare organizations, improving and improving quality has become a sense of responsibility.
Although various quality approaches bring different definitions and no single definition of quality can be made, their common points are: Quality includes meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Quality is dynamic, so something that is considered quality today may not be available tomorrow. Quality is a phenomenon that can be improved.
There is no single definition of quality in the field of health services. The definition of quality is constantly improving in health services. While the first quality definitions are made, the opinions and opinions of the employees in the field of health are prioritized and the opinions and preferences of the patients and other people have gained importance today.
When health quality is mentioned, health science and technology and their consequences in practice are understood. In this context, the characteristics of quality in health are: productivity, effectiveness, effectiveness, acceptability, optimality, legality and equity.
The efficiency of health services is the ability to reduce service costs without reducing achievable improvements. Health services being effective is the ability of health services science and technology to create health improvements when used under appropriate conditions. The effectiveness of health care is the degree to which health care achievements are actually achievable today. Acceptability of health services means that patients and their families meet the wishes, desires and expectations. Optimal health care is to balance health improvements with the cost of these improvements. Health services being legal means that they comply with social preferences expressed in values, ethical principles and legal regulations. Finally, equity of health services means to be right and fair in the distribution of health services and benefits among all people in the society.
Today, in the health sector, when it is referred to as a customer, it includes not only patients, but also all patient relatives and all organizations involved in the health service process. In general, customer satisfaction is the most important indicator of quality service in health services. The importance of service quality is increasing in the development and continuity of health institutions. The principle of being customer oriented is the most fundamental element of Total Quality Management and is the main starting point of customer activities.
Today, satisfaction researches in health services are carried out for the following purposes:
- Measuring customer satisfaction
- To learn customer expectations, suggestions and feedback
- Ensuring continuous improvement of quality in all service processes
- To investigate the effect of treatment variables on customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction surveys provide useful information about the structure, process and outcome of the services provided by health institutions. For this reason, health service providers gain and maintain competitive advantage is based on determination, measurement and evaluation of customer satisfaction criteria.
What is TS EN 15224 Healthcare Quality Management System?
The EN 15224 standard is a European Union standard for health care. This standard (TS EN 2017 Quality Management Systems - EN ISO 15224 for Health Services), published by the Turkish Standards Institute in our country and last updated in March of 9001, is a standard of quality management system designed for healthcare enterprises.
This standard covers quality requirements for all businesses that need to demonstrate the ability to meet the health demands of customers on a regular basis within the framework of legal regulations.
In addition, this standard ensures that processes are improved for the system and that it complies with customer demands. Likewise, with the effective implementation of the system, it provides opportunities for increasing the customer satisfaction by meeting the requirements regarding legal regulations and quality objectives. In addition, the TS EN 15224 standard provides a systematic approach to healthcare in many areas such as compliance, correct care, knowledge-based care, continuity of care, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, patient participation, patient safety and accessibility.
Health institutions can establish TS EN 15224 Health Services Quality Management System alone in their enterprises. However, since this system is based on the ISO 9001 Quality Management System standard, health institutions applying this system can more easily install and manage TE EN 15224 Health Services Quality Management System.
EN 15224 system, primary health care, hospital services, pre-hospital care, foster homes, nursing homes, preventive health services, mentally disabled care services, physical therapy, occupational diseases health services, dentistry, rehabilitation centers and pharmacies can be applied in all health sector system standard.
In general, the benefits of this system to businesses are:
- Provides planning and control of health services
- Provides health facility with management
- Processes and management reduce errors and reduce costs
- Since the system is a risk-based management system, it provides control and risk management in health services.
- Having TS EN 15224 certificate is a prerequisite for reaching new corporate customers.
- It opens the doors of health institutions in terms of health tourism and creates trust for customers
- It is possible to easily integrate the system with ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 27001 and other management systems.
- Thanks to this system, health institutions maintain their dynamic structure
To summarize, the main structure of the TS EN 15224 Health Services Quality Management System standard is: appropriate care, availability, continuation of care, effectiveness, efficiency, equality, providing evidence, physical and psychological support, patient information, patient safety and timely accessibility.
