Quality Land

Mª Luisa de la Puente
 

In the world of healthcare, quality is everyone's business and it covers everything. This assertion, generically true but with little operational, is coming in stronger in recent years. This concretion to a specific context is driven by the necessary adaptation to the escalation of healthcare costs, the economic context, the influence of the business world to obtain more performance from resources, the demands of its clients or professional discomfort due to the little recognition of what it is.

Taking action in patient-centred care

Nacho Vallejo

 

Frame of the series New Amsterdam

Talking about patient-centred care in our healthcare organizations may sound hollow or a tradition of good intentions. There are very attractive topics such as "patients first". In any case, putting patients first, abandoning traditional medical paternalism, has at times become an excuse to configure a variety of intentions that risk being left in symbolic speeches. I believe that one of the reasons that don't allow progress in this task is the need to specify it in actions that the ordinary professional can understand and carry out, checking its benefits and its results.

Cross-functional units, a challenge within reach

Jordi Varela

Editor

In 2003, a study led by Chris Ham observed that for eleven clinical situations related to chronicity and age, the NHS allocated up to three and a half times more hospital beds than Kaiser Permanente. This was such a surprising result that it generated great admiration for the European health managers by the Californian insurer, especially considering that, according to the researchers themselves, the success of KP lies in the transversal integration of its services, the promotion of self-care, the active role of community nurses and the involvement of physicians to achieve maximum resolution of problems in the framework of primary care.

Time in the gaze

Soledad Delgado
 

I often find myself intensely focused on the keyboard, pounding the keys quickly so as not to leave any detail out, striving to relay a very complete medical history - many times so complete that several chapters of a book could be written on subjects as trivial as a simple toothache. Speeding up to the last paragraph all the while noticing the ongoing growth of the patients’ list.

The risks of doing the wrong things

José Joaquín Mira
 

The New Yorker

In all disciplines, we find some questions in search of an answer that stands out above all other questions, but without finding an adequate solution. The correct treatment, for the right person and at the right time (therapeutic adequacy), is one of those holy grails that affect, in this case, health disciplines.

Doctor, give me a checkup and make it a full one.

Xavier Bayona
 

The need to reduce anxiety due to the uncertainty of the possibility of getting sick and dying is one of the most frequent reasons behind the demand for a "preventive" health study, popularly known as a checkup. The purpose of the checkup is to detect the disease early, prevent it from developing, and/or provide reassurance. General health studies (checkups) involve multiple tests on a person who doesn't feel ill and is a common element of medical care in the Western world.

"Carried me with you": the objectives of integrated care are a matter of more than one

Mònica Almiñana
 

This song from the Onward soundtrack, one of Disney's latest animated productions, bring about a good mood because, in addition to having a country touch, I have always liked lyrics that speak of how important it's that they accompany you, guide you and help you achieve your goals.