The overall quality of services in the healthcare industry is provided by many specialists, including clinicians and nurses. However, health care administrators also play a significant part in maintaining and improving health care quality: they are concerned with all aspects of their facility or system. According to Kisekka and Giboney (2018), the determinants of health care outcomes are “evaluation of trust, security beliefs, and privacy” (p. 1). Ensuring the effectiveness, efficiency, and functionality of a health care facility is one of the most critical tasks of health care administrators. Nowadays, information technologies represent an essential aspect of the medical field since, as it is known, information has always been a highly valuable resource. Health care administrators can utilize different types of information they obtain for planning purposes, thereby improving the quality of medical services.
As it is known, health care quality is based on many aspects, including proficiency and devotion of clinicians and nurses, the technologies and equipment utilized in each particular medical facility, and many other vital factors, but health care administrators also play a significant role. Nowadays, their work is strongly correlated with health information technologies (HIT) since they have to control patient information flowing through patient health records (PHR), electronic medical records (EMR), and many similar technical devices created to ensure the quality of patient care services (Kisekka & Giboney, 2018). While doing their jobs, health care administrators may confront several issues related to information. These issues include trust in health information provided by patients, information security beliefs, and patient privacy, and they further appear as determinants of health care quality that can improve patient satisfaction, increase the efficiency of hospitals, and enhance health care outcomes (Kisekka & Giboney, 2018). As employees of medical facilities, health care administrators have access to information, and their work is focused on it, which is why the mentioned above determinants are essential for them.
However, controlling the patient data is not the only functional task of health care administrators – they can also utilize that information for planning purposes, enhancing health care quality. The accessible data can be applied in advance care planning, providing “an opportunity for people to discuss and record their preferences, goals and decisions for future care” (Dixon & Knapp, 2018, p. 2). Advance care planning is an efficient method of identifying the best possible options for treating patients, which involves their history, medical contradictions, own wishes, and other relatable data that can help make the doctor-patient relationship effective and positive. Thus, the role of health care administrators in this process is to point clinicians and nurses in the right direction.
Furthermore, the planning strategies of health care administrators are not limited to the internal care units as they can also utilize information to improve their entire facility or system by applying the principles of evidence-based management (EBM). According to Guo et al. (2019), the decision-making process in the medical field relies on “the best available scientific research findings, organizational data, professional experience and judgment, and stakeholders’ values and concerns” (p. 25). For instance, health care administrators can analyze the current demand for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to see if the hospital requires an additional machine. Managers may further use this information to plan their budget and order an additional MRI, thereby meeting the hospital’s requirements and improving health care quality and positive outcomes.
References
Dixon, J., & Knapp, M. (2018). Whose job? The staffing of advance care planning support in twelve international healthcare organizations: A qualitative interview study. BMC palliative care, 17(1), 1-16. Web.
Guo, R., Berkshire, S. D., Fulton, L. V., & Hermanson, P. M. (2019). Predicting intention to use evidence-based management among US healthcare administrators: Application of the theory of planned behavior and structural equation modeling. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 12(1), 25-32. Web.
Kisekka, V., & Giboney, J. S. (2018). The effectiveness of health care information technologies: Evaluation of trust, security beliefs, and privacy as determinants of health care outcomes. Journal of medical Internet research, 20(4), e107. Web.