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Introduction
Costs in the health care system are constantly increasing, and the process of cost containment can help reduce costs intelligently and improve the quality of services. Quality improvement programs and cost containment are directly related. Therefore, it is necessary to apply any of its strategies carefully to prevent its adverse effect on quality.
Cost Containment Rationales
Maintaining a balance between cost containment and service quality is necessary. Improving the quality of workflows results in fewer errors, faster turnaround times, and more efficient use of resources. It, in turn, reduces the overall cost of the facility. Moreover, improving the quality of services provided while reducing costs increases the organization’s competitiveness. If two facilities provide the same services, the client is likelier to go to the one that offers him a better price.
A careful analysis of the company’s costs can help identify unnecessary costs and review market options that will lead to obtaining the appropriate level of quality or even improving it. As noted by Hunter et al. (2018), “funding must continue to drive innovation and development in the field” (p. 155). Thus, reducing costs in one direction of the facility’s work makes it possible to ensure investment in quality improvement.
Cost Containing Strategy for Therapies
Reducing administrative costs can be one of the most beneficial in the cost containment process. Health care institutions spend much money on processes that can be digitized today. According to Stadhouders et al. (2019), “electronic health records, computerized physician order entry, and clinical decision support found cost-containment effects, specifically administrative costs” (p. 75). Therefore, the involvement of outsourcing services is a rather advantageous cost containment strategy.
The first step in implementing this strategy is to analyze the facility costs and identify the costliest segments where costs can be reduced. In this case, outsourcing services is intended to reduce administrative costs. However, it is essential to determine how well the strategy will pay off in the short and long term and how much the chosen strategy will help contain costs.
Given that cost containment is implemented as part of a quality improvement program, the next step is to identify the benefits of the strategy for the quality of services provided. In particular, the health information system implementation positively impacted the quality of medical care. The computerization of processes in health care reduces the impact of the human factor, reduces the number of errors in treatment, and reduces the number of risks for the client.
The final stage is the implementation of the chosen strategy and the evaluation of its results. Using outsourcing services in the administrative sector can be challenging. First, finding a reliable outsourcing service provider for healthcare facilities is necessary. Second, digitalizing the administrative sector will reduce the number of jobs, so it is crucial to consider alternatives for staff.
After implementing the strategy, it is also essential to analyze its results and forecasts. It assists in determining the extent to which the use of outsourcing services helped to improve the quality of the services and contributed to the reduction of costs. The mid-term and final evaluation of the results will help identify gaps in the program and facilitate their rapid resolution.
Adverse Impacts
However, along with reducing costs, the strategy of using outsourcing services can adversely affect quality. Khirfan et al. (2019) call this strategy “one of the challenges facing quality improvement” (p. 5158). Firstly, the digitalization of the health care system is a challenging and time-consuming process. Hence, if possible, problems were not detected and prevented at the initial stages of strategy implementation, there might be outcomes opposite to the desired result. Secondly, outsourcing services in the administrative sector can lead to the leakage of clients’ private information. Such a situation will worsen the reputation and image of the organization and, as a result, will lead to losses.
Conclusion
To conclude, developing a quality improvement program considering cost containment strategies is a complex process that requires careful analysis at all stages of implementation. When reducing costs, it is essential to consider the possible consequences for service quality. Similarly, when improving quality, it is necessary to ensure that costs do not exceed the established minimum limit and, accordingly, prices are acceptable to customers.
References
Hunter, D., Mauldon, E., & Anderson, N. (2018). Cost‐containment in hypofractionated radiation therapy: a literature review. Journal of medical radiation sciences, 65(2), 148-157.
Khirfan, R., Bhagat, V., Tengku, M. A., Awang, Z., Khlaifa, M., AlRammah, T., & AlAzmi, A. (2019). The study on the influential factors on cost containment in health care. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology, 12(11), 5157-5162.
Stadhouders, N., Kruse, F., Tanke, M., Koolman, X., & Jeurissen, P. (2019). Effective healthcare cost-containment policies: A systematic review. Health Policy, 123(1), 71-79.
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