Nursing (Cost and quality analysis). Health, Medicine Research Paper

Cost and Quality Analysis
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Cost and Quality Analysis
Different agencies, both in the public and private sector, have taken part in addressing cost and quality in health-care. One of the public agency that has been on the frontline in addressing these two aspects is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This agency is a federal agency that is responsible for improving the safety and quality of health-care in the U.S.A. (Kronick, 2016). The agency performs activities that ensure that health-care spending is on the lower side while at the same time improving the quality of health-care. For instance, the AHRQ has developed quality indicators, referred to as AHRQuality, which are used by health-care providers and stakeholders in acute care hospital to pinpoint to health-care quality concern and determine the areas of health-care that require more investigation (AHRQ, n.d.). Further, the quality indicators allow health-care providers to analyze their data, which is necessary when making decisions concerning care quality and costs. Through their research, AHRQ is able to provide policymakers and other stakeholders in health-care with information that helps them in making decisions in regard to cost and quality of care. Kronick (2016) indicates that the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which are all programs under the AHQR, provide data relating to cost and utilization of insurance in health-care. This data is very relevant in quality and cost decisions because decision-makers are able to formulate effective interventions based on the data. The agency also conducts research on care affordability and presents the results to the relevant parties to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable and quality care.
In the private sector, the Joint Commission is an agency that plays an important part in ensuring improved quality and low cost in health-care (The Joint Commission, n.d.). The organization accredits and certifies health-care organizations for meeting required standards of performance. One of the activities they undertake is what they refer to as accountability measure which involves assessing hospital improvement in terms of accuracy, adverse effects, research, and proximity. This approach thus prepares hospitals to improve their performance by addressing the quality and cost of health-care. The agency also provides recommendations to health-care providers to ensure that they prevent injuries and infections as a way of reducing the cost of health-care in the U.S. Thus, the Joint Commission activities are directly related to quality improvement and indirectly related to cost-efficiency in health-care. In their 2017 annual report, the Joint Commission indicated that through quality improvement, hospitals are able to reduce the cost of health-care and improve the quality of life of patients.
Current and Projected Initiatives to Improve Quality and Control Costs
The AHRQ has an initiative that enables healthcare providers who are transforming primary care into a primary care medical home to enhance the quality and accessibility of care (AHRQ, n.d.). Through this program, AHRQ is able to improve quality of care while at the same time controlling costs. The agency provides health-care providers with a cost estimation guide to ensure that quality care is affordable to patients. This is because the program avails stakeholders with information on the costs of implementing and sustaining a primary care medical home. In return, the transformed primary care are facilitating the provision of quality care at a lower cost, thus leading the healthcare system towards achieving the three aims of the health-care sector. Evidence indicates that primary care medical homes are successful in reducing the overall cost of healthcare. For instance, a 2017 report by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) indicates that patient-centered medical homes have lowered the cost of c...