The National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care

The Affordable Care Act seeks to increase access to high-quality affordable health care for all Americans. On March 21st of this year, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services submitted the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care (aka the National Quality Strategy) to Congress. This plan sets priorities to guide the first attempts to providing quality care for all at the local, state, and national level. The National Quality Strategy is said to promote quality healthcare, focused on the needs of the patients, families, and communities. Furthermore, the initiative is designed to move the United States healthcare system to work better for doctors, as well as other healthcare providers.

The National Quality Strategy exhibits three aims for the healthcare system, which will be used to guide and assess local, state, and national efforts to improve health and quality of healthcare. These aims include:

• Better Care: Improving the overall quality, by making healthcare more patient-centered, reliable, accessible, and safe
• Healthy People/Healthy Communities: Improving the health of the U.S. population by supporting proven interventions to address behavioral, social, and environmental determinants of health, in addition to delivering higher-quality care
• Affordable Care: Reducing the cost of quality health care for individuals, families, employers, and government

The above mentioned objectives are supported by six priorities; These priorities will lay the ground work for the advancement of the National Quality Strategy's three aims.

• Creating safer care by lessening harm caused during the delivery of care
• Guaranteeing all individuals and families are included as partners in their care
• Encouraging effective communication and organization of care
• Promoting the most successful prevention and treatment techniques for the top causes of mortality, beginning with cardiovascular disease
• Cooperating with local neighborhoods to educate residents of the best habits to lead healthy lives
• Cutting down costs of quality care for individuals, families, employers and governments by fostering and promoting new healthcare delivery models

The National Quality Strategy is designed to be an evolving model for the nation, as the United States continues to move onward with efforts to measure and improve overall health, as well as healthcare quality. This plan is just a portion of a broad effort by the Obama Administration to enrich the quality of healthcare. In addition, the National Quality Strategy will serve as a tool to better coordinate quality initiatives between public and private partners.

References:

About the National Quality Strategy, (2011, March 22). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://ahrq.gov/workingforquality/nqs/

National Quality Strategy Will Promote Better Health, Quality Care for Americans, (2011, March 21). United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://www.hhs.gov/news/pres/2011pres/03/20110321a.html