Quality Improvement Movement In Health Care

The quality improvement movement can be traced back to the 19th century and over time has transitioned from a model to satisfy curiosity to a priority in health care. There have been many attempts made to address the challenges of improving health care quality, but none have been significant enough to address the ever evolving changes associated with reaching an adequate level of quality. As the movement evolved and became more purposeful, the focus was to implement models that relied on data to drive quality. An example is the 1992 Quality Improvement Initiative, and many others have since followed. (Marjoua & Bozic, 2012). Most recently, an example where health care policy and quality are bound together is in the passage of the ACA in 2010. Numerous provisions are included in the act to modify the delivery of care to Medicare and Medicaid patients. The central objectives to improve quality while lowering cost. The Medicare Value Based purchasing program is a provision included in the act , as well as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). (Marjoua & Bozic, 2012).
Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) is managed through CMS and is an initiative to reward acute-care hospitals with incentive payments based on the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. The program commenced the beginning of the 2013 CMS fiscal year. Reports indicate, despite …show more content…
Physicians and health care workers have to change the way of practicing, but also adjust the methods utilized in hospitals. Delving deeper than the provision of care, is the need to persuade beneficiaries to change how they behave, as well. Since the beginning of health care in the U.S., the system has been a reactionary system, although now it is being impressed upon beneficiaries to be proactive. Physicians are required to be diligent in the education of their patients and advocates for proactivity. (Are Medicare ACOs Working,