Collaboration and Quality in Health Care
                                                                                                          Maximum Effective Use of People and Resources

                                                                                                                                           Timothy Stagich, Ph.D.

       Quality in Health Care is built upon how well we are able to maximize the use of all of our great people and resources in the health care industry from physicians to treatment procedures to pharmaceuticals, equipment and health care facilities. Coordinating and integrating the use of all of the significant resources that are available for patients in the health industry requires a collaborative plan and a system design. Collaborative teamwork remains the best approach to bringing all of the resources effectively into use for the greatest benefit of the patient. At present, in America there is no overall system to facilitate collaboration and effectively coordinate resources and information on patients.

       With a team of physicians addressing both the short and the long term needs of the patient upon admission to health care facilities, a much better plan for the use of people and resources can be implemented. And, in doctor’s offices patients can be assured that all of the resources will be made available to them for treatment as necessary. Also, many unnecessary procedures are used because the present system of payment to the doctors is based on the services that are provided whether they are needed or not. In the collaborative approach, the doctors would be paid as part of a team to address the needs of patients and payments would be made more for results and outcomes than for the list of services provided. In addition, as resources become better coordinated through collaborative partnerships with cooperating health facilities, many more patients can be treated equally with payment to these facilities and doctors based upon how well they work together to achieve measurable results.

       Furthermore, free choice in a collaborative system is maximized insofar as the patient always has more than one opinion in a team approach as well as the option to seek out other opinions as necessary. And, if this collaborative system is made universally available, patients would receive the treatment in the health care facility of their choice. In addition, with a collaborative team approach, a more effective diagnosis is possible through the efforts of physicians and specialists who would collaborate and contribute to a complete set of recommendations for treatment. Also, with a team of doctors contributing and sharing their knowledge and information, there is less need for patients to shop around for opinions from other doctors who may not have all of the necessary information. So, there are numerous benefits to a collaborative approach to health care delivery that include the maximum effective use of people through a team approach to diagnosis and treatment, the sharing of information quickly and efficiently, the maximum use of facilities and equipment through collaborative partnerships, and a cost-effective and equitable system of payments based upon results, cooperative efforts and outcomes.

       At present, there are several proposals for improving our health care system in America, and although each of them has merits, they are just a first step in building quality care and beginning to provide health care to all individuals equally and effectively. Whatever proposal Congress approves, a Collaborative Plan must be implemented at some point that includes a system designed to coordinate resources and to provide quality care equally and cost-effectively to everyone including the fifty million Americans with no health care coverage or inadequate health care protection. Collaborative Health Care offers the best approach to helping everyone through the maximum effective use of people and resources providing the best quality care equally and efficiently.

Copyright 2009, Global Leadership Resources: For teaching or classroom use only.

                                                                                     Discussion Questions

  1. Discuss the connections between quality and the maximum effective use of people and resources in health care delivery.
  2. How does collaboration work as a system for the coordination and integration of people, resources and information? Why is it both efficient and cost-effective?
  3. Discuss the benefits and challenges of collaborative teamwork for physicians and patients? How does it improve quality in health care delivery?
  4. Discuss the collaborative system and specialization in health care. How does collaborative teamwork make specialists in health care more effective?
  5. What are the benefits of building Collaborative Partnerships among health care facilities and how will this improve health care delivery?
  6. Discuss the need to share information on patients quickly and efficiently and how can the concerns about privacy be addressed effectively?
  7. What are the benefits regarding Free Choice in a Collaborative Health System? How is Free Choice facilitated through collaboration?


 

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