Needless to state, healthcare is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans as well as in animals. Undeniably, too, the world is facing many issues related to providing citizens with healthcare services, especially with an aging population, and the services refer to the patient care provided by medical professionals, healthcare personnel, and healthcare organizations.
Recognizing all this, The Ethiopian Herald had a stay with Serkalem Debela, who graduated from Addis Ababa University, a health officer working in a private hospital.
She said that healthcare refers to the provision of services to individuals in specific contexts, such as homes, educational institutions, workplaces, public areas, communities, hospitals, and clinics, to contribute to their health. Besides, the nation has to be in a position to well expand the healthcare service, as a number of indicators are bearing fruit in all.
“Healthcare service providers, and especially their managers, must continuously search for opportunities to enhance the understanding of what their patients need or wish in order for them to be able to meet or even exceed their expectations related to the quality of healthcare services,” she added.
As to her, the role of knowledge transfer, hierarchical organizational structure, and trust as important organizational factors that influence knowledge management practices on the quality of healthcare services. Trust acts as a moderator in the relationship between knowledge transfer and quality of healthcare services and between hierarchical organizational structure and quality of healthcare services.
She further elucidated that challenges like resource constraints, a lack of monitoring and evaluation, and limited coordination between the education and health sectors have come to the forefront in compromising the smooth delivery of healthcare services.
She said, “Ethiopia has aimed at integrating health policies within educational settings. The community health policy was developed to enhance the health and well-being of learners, educators, and others. The introduction of the policy was commendable, but its effective implementation requires a deep understanding of ground realities, challenges, and diverse stakeholder needs.”
According to Serkalem, healthcare service quality is even more difficult to define and measure than in other sectors. Distinct healthcare industry characteristics such as intangibility, heterogeneity, and simultaneity make it difficult to define and measure quality. Healthcare service is an intangible product and cannot physically be touched, felt, viewed, counted, or measured like manufactured goods. Producing tangible goods allows quantitative measures of quality since they can be sampled and tested for quality throughout the production process and in later use. However, healthcare service quality depends on service processes and customer and service provider interactions. Some healthcare quality attributes, such as timeliness, consistency, and accuracy, are hard to measure beyond a subjective assessment by the customer.
No matter how difficult the concept may be, it is better to develop commitment regarding the provision of healthcare services to the general public as customer satisfaction and meeting public interest can themselves be good manifestations towards this fact, she underlined.
Yes, she added quality standards are more difficult to establish in service operations. Healthcare professionals provide services differently because factors vary, such as experience, individual abilities, and personalities.
The very important thing that needs to be taken into account in this regard is good healthcare quality means providing citizens, peculiarly patients, with appropriate services in a technically competent manner, with good communication, shared decision making and cultural sensitivity.
In this sense she said quality is the degree to which healthcare services for individuals and populace increases the likelihood of desired healthcare outcomes and is consistent with the current specialized acquaintance.
“Through improved knowledge management of knowledge transfer, hierarchical organizational structure healthcare service can be promoted via of course promoting and further developing efforts that focus on measuring the quality of healthcare services in Ethiopia, mitigating the problem of common sector expansion, reinvigorating healthcare centers like health stations, clinics, hospitals and other supporting organizations.”
She said, “Quality health services build communities’ and patients’ trust in health care. It enhances the acceptability of services and increases health service coverage. Quality primary healthcare is imperative for universal health coverage through expanding health institutions and increasing skilled health professionals to deliver services near to people.”
Quality of care is the extent to which the healthcare system can achieve the desired health care goals, such as effective recovery, preventing premature mortality, halting disease progression from being complicated and maximizing clients’ satisfaction with the care they received. With efficient, integrated, equitable, timely, people-centered, and safe health services, preventive and positive, treatment, palliative and rehabilitative quality care could be achieved.
Notable quality and safety standards or strategies have been established in Ethiopia and other African countries she said adding that good health governance and administration, quality improvement programs, financial and non-financial support, community empowerment and engagement, competent health care providers, and monitoring and evaluation are some of the quality improvement strategies. These schemes have a vital role in improving the patient experience in boosting quality of care, satisfaction, and the health of populations.
As to her, since a health system consists of all entities, individuals, and actions with the primary purpose of managing symptoms, every concerned body has to discharge their respective responsibilities to hit the set target regarding promoting the healthcare service across the nation.
She said, “Efforts to improve health determinants as well as more direct health-improving behaviors should be well embarked on. The maintenance of health through prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses, injuries, and other mental and physical impairments in people is called healthcare that is performed by professionals in health fields. All activities performed in providing primary, secondary, and tertiary care, as well as in public health, are components of healthcare systems that are required to analyze massive amounts of patients’ data to gain insights and aid in disease prediction.”
Serkalem said, “The country has to implement and evaluate new models of health care being developed, and better technology needs to be developed and demonstrated, and meeting consumer demand can change systems of care.” Yes, considering the changes in obstetrical care, which has changed from a technological, sterile practice to a more humane, patient-centered, caring, warm experience through birthing centers, it needs to be consolidated to bring about change in various healthcare service delivery acts.”
“No health care delivery system yet has been demonstrated to be better in all respects—in technical quality, interpersonal quality, and so on. We must consider health care at the microsystem level, that is, the health of the population, and not just the health care system. It is important to think of how technology and engineering principles can be applied to well influence all the relevant healthcare service alternatives
In sum, healthcare is both a business and a system for providing individuals with the healthcare they require, and it needs to be well expanded to the healthcare service nationwide. Healthcare refers to efforts made by qualified and licensed experts to preserve and enhance physiological, psychological, or behavioral well-being. The healthcare system is defined as a process of delivering services for the early prevention of diseases and their treatments. In the years to come, healthcare will undergo drastic transformations.
In addition, we should be thinking about designing communities that encourage people to walk or otherwise stay physically active because we know that even minimal exercise can have a huge health impact. We can promote behavioral change strategies to help improve people’s diets and help them deal with stress.
New organizations and new functions outside the traditional health care delivery system can improve people’s lives. Truly, optimizing individual and community involvement in health decision-making in general practice consultations and primary care settings is a decisive avenue for change.
BY MENGESHA AMARE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 2 FEBRUARY 2025
