Question

How do we as nurses with advance degrees impact the overlap of the drivers?

overlap of the drivers of cost and quality in health care or nursing practice?

Answer 1

Ans) With the rapid growth of technology and increased demands on the private and public health care subsystems, health care costs have become prohibitive.

- Cost-effectiveness and cost containment have become critical driving forces as health care delivery system changes are made; however, cost-effectiveness often conflicts with the provision of quality care.

- The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Best Care at Lower Costs: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America "presents a vision of what is possible if the nation applies the resources and tools at hand by marshaling science, information technology, incentives, and care culture to transform the effectiveness and efficiency of care—to produce high-quality health care that continuously learns to be better". Since 1999, the IOM has completed many extensive reports examining the status of health care in the United States. Some improvement has been seen in the delivery system, but much more needs to be done. This report addresses these critical concerns again.

Nurses with advance degress can do all these to reduce cost while maintaining high quality health care or nursing practice.

Saving Money While Maintaining Quality Patient Care:

1. Producing, sending and keeping information such as patient records in electronic format.
2. Ensuring nursing departments stay on budget.
3. Reducing waste.
4. Creating adequate staff schedules that avoid overtime hours.
5. Seeking out lower-cost employee benefits.