Among the most important institutions in the world, healthcare facilities rank at the top. Good health is central to every other function of the human being. Education, careers, businesses and family life cannot be built up if people are in poor health. Hospitals, clinics, labs and diagnostic centers are vital for every community. These facilities on the other hand need to uphold a high standard of service delivery. One way of ensuring these institutions uphold quality is to make suitable evaluations and make the findings public. This approach of producing ratings will serve as a platform they can use to make improvements. Moreover, clients can be able to assess and choose facilities that will guarantee them proper health care.
Certain key factors are used to evaluate hospitals and other health facilities. They take into account the capabilities of these facilities (the supply) and the need for services in the community (the demand). Factors that assess the ability of these facilities to provide necessary health services include the following:
- Availability of basic services- There are certain services that a facility must have if it has to live up to its name. This means that for a laboratory, there has to be tests readily available at all times for the different types of diseases. A hospital on the other hand is not complete without essential departments like surgical unit and maternity. Moreover, when making an evaluation using this factor, quality should be considered. It is possible that a healthcare facility is well equipped but provides sub-standard services.
- Human resource- The personnel in every facility matter a lot. Their level of competence and skill determine whether the facility receives a high rating or a low one. When making this assessment, one looks at the manner in which the personnel interact with clients. Is it commendable? Is it deficient? Poor communication and poor human skills point out a failing facility.
- Adherence to the client service charter- All the different types of clients in a healthcare facility are guided by a service charter. It describes the services available, the time involved and the cost of procedures. Evaluating a healthcare facility calls for assessing whether the staff adhere to these guidelines in order to take care of their clients as required.
There are other factors which take into account the actual care clients receive in these facilities. They include the following:
- Use of current technology- Facilities such as labs and other diagnostic centers should be able to make use of the best available technology from latest inventions. This way, tests and investigations carried out will be accurate and reliable.
- Affordable services-Quality must be upheld in all levels of healthcare. However, clients cannot be exploited on this basis and that is why services should be priced within reasonable costs. When evaluating a facility, one assesses whether services are given at exorbitant charges or at fair rates.
- Holistic services- A hospital for instance must take care of their patient, holistically. This means that there are measures put in place to treat the patient physically, mentally and spiritually. Hospitals with excellent treatment facilities, counseling services for every patient and spiritual nourishment will definitely be rated highly.
Clearly, making a healthcare facility evaluation first requires one to be aware of what to look for. The above factors provide a good basis of forming necessary judgment. Such evaluations are helpful both for the clients and the facilities and ought to be taken positively.